Black-backed Puffback

Identification

The Black-backed Puffback is a compact bushshrike measuring about 17 cm in length. Males are unmistakable, with deep blue-black upperparts, a black cap framing a striking red eye, and pure white underparts. Females are more subtly marked, displaying a black loral stripe, white supraloral feathering, pale ear coverts, and a greyish back with buffy tones to their white plumage. Immature birds resemble females but show brownish bills and brown eyes, with greyer upperparts and buffy-tinged underparts. Intraspecific variation occurs across the species' range, with differences in iris colour, wing markings, and female plumage helping separate it from the five other puffback species.

Range & Habitat

The Black-backed Puffback occurs mainly south of the equator throughout sub-Saharan Africa, ranging from southern Somalia to coastal South Africa. It is the only puffback species to occur over much of this range, being replaced by the larger Northern Puffback near and north of the equator. These birds are remarkably adaptable, inhabiting gardens, riparian thickets, mangroves, woodlands, savannas, bushveld, and forest fringes, from sea level to around 2,200 metres elevation.

They show strong preferences for wooded habitats, with highest reporting rates from dense woodlands including miombo, gusu, mopane, and riparian forests such as those of the Okavango Delta. In southern Africa, they favour mixed woodlands and Racosperma plantations. However, they naturally avoid arid Acacia scrub, treeless highveld, alpine regions, the Congo Basin interior, and the cores of afromontane forests.

Behaviour & Diet

Black-backed Puffbacks are restless birds that move actively through tree canopies, usually in pairs or family groups, sometimes joining mixed-species flocks. They are most famous for their extraordinary display behaviour: males puff out the long, loose white feathers of their lower back and rump to create a remarkable ball-like silhouette while flying and calling loudly. Their varied vocal repertoire includes a distinctive chow-chow-chow call, a tik-weeu refrain, clicks followed by upslurred whiplash sounds, and rasping notes—their name cubla itself derives from an onomatopoeic click in a southern African language.

Their diet consists primarily of large numbers of caterpillars, supplemented by beetles, ants, termites, and small fruits. These birds are sedentary residents, with recapture data indicating movements do not exceed a 10 km radius.

Best Time & Places to See It

Black-backed Puffbacks are common to fairly common throughout their range and can be found year-round as sedentary residents. In southern Africa, breeding occurs during summer months, earlier in the moist east (October–December) than in drier regions. In Zimbabwe, breeding peaks in spring (September–November), while in Transvaal it occurs one to two months later (September–January). The birds are most easily located in well-wooded areas with dense canopy, particularly miombo and riparian woodlands. Listening for their distinctive calls—especially the loud, distinctive whistles and clicks of displaying males—is the most effective way to locate them.

Photography Tips

Photographing Black-backed Puffbacks requires patience and attention to their active, restless behaviour in the tree canopy. The striking sexual dimorphism makes identifying males and females straightforward—focus on males' deep black and pure white plumage for the most dramatic images. The dramatic puffed-out display pose, with feathers ballooned around the lower back and rump, is a spectacular but fleeting moment; position yourself to anticipate these displays, which often accompany loud calling. Early morning hours typically offer the best light and most vocal activity. A telephoto lens is essential for capturing detail in the canopy, and the birds' red-eyed gaze in males provides a striking focal point. The contrasting plumage of males provides excellent definition, while females' subtler grey and buffy tones require careful exposure to reveal their delicate markings.