The Crimson-breasted Gonolek ('gonolek' - supposedly imitative of its call), Laniarius atrococcineus, formerly called the Crimson-breasted Shrike, is a southern African bird occurring in a broad swathe from southern Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 to the Free State province in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

. This species was first collected by ‎William John Burchell in 1811 near the confluence of the Vaal

Vaal River

The Vaal River is the largest tributary of the Orange River in South Africa. The river has its source in the Drakensberg mountains in Mpumalanga, east of Johannesburg and about 30 km north of Ermelo and only about 240 km from the Indian Ocean. It then flows westwards to its conjunction...

 and Orange

Orange River

The Orange River , Gariep River, Groote River or Senqu River is the longest river in South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg mountains in Lesotho, flowing westwards through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean...

 Rivers. He named it atrococcineus meaning 'black/red', finding the striking colour combination quite remarkable. The generic name Laniarius was coined by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot

Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot was a French ornithologist.Vieillot described a large number of birds for the first time, especially those he encountered during the time he spent in the West Indies and North America, and 26 genera established by him are still in use...

 and was meant to call attention to the butcher-like habits of the group. In South West Africa

South West Africa

South-West Africa was the name that was used for the modern day Republic of Namibia during the earlier eras when the territory was controlled by the German Empire and later by South Africa....

 its colours reminded Germans of their homeland flag and it therefore became the Reichsvogel ("Empire bird"). This species is closely related to two other bushshrike

Bushshrike

The bushshrikes are smallish passerine bird species. They were formerly classed with the true shrikes in the family Laniidae, but are now considered sufficiently distinctive to be separated from that group as the family Malaconotidae....

s, the Yellow-crowned Gonolek

Yellow-crowned Gonolek

The Yellow-crowned Gonolek , also known as the Common Gonolek, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the bushshrike family. It is a common resident breeding bird in equatorial Africa from Senegal and Democratic Republic of Congo east to Ethiopia.It frequents dense undergrowth in forests and other...

, Laniarius barbarus and the Black-headed Gonolek of East Africa, Laniarius erythrogaster.

This shrike is extremely nimble and restless, its penetrating whistles often being the first sign of its presence, although it is not a shy species. The sexes have the same colouration and are indistinguishable from each other. A yellow-breasted form is occasionally seen, and was at first thought to be a separate species. Young birds have a mottled and barred buff-brown appearance with a pale bill.

The Crimson-breasted Gonolek's preferred habitat is drier thornbush areas, in thickets and riparian scrub. It makes small seasonal migrations, preferring lower altitudes during cold periods.