The grey-headed bushshrike (Malaconotus blanchoti) is named for its grey head and is a bird that lives in the African bush. It is also known as the ghost bird because of its mournful, low-pitched ghostly "whhooooooo" call, and it is a very elusive bird that is difficult to spot in the thick vegetation. It is a powerful hunter, preying on a wide range of small vertebrates including small snakes, rodents, and lizards, as well as large insects like locusts and grasshoppers. Like other shrikes, it is known to impale its prey on thorns or spikes to create a larder for later consumption. The grey-headed bushshrike inhabits arid thornveld, broadleaf woodland, riverine forest, and thickets, preferring denser vegetation within dry or moist savannah from Senegal east to northern Cameroon. In southern Africa, it is absent from the Kalahari woodlands and is largely replaced by the orange-breasted bushshrike in the Okavango Delta.
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