Monteiro's bushshrike

Two described subspecies: nominate Malaconotus m. monteiri (Shape, 1870) described from Angola, and M. m. perspicillatus (Reichenow, 1894) known from only a single specimen in Cameroon.[2] Subspecies perspicillatus differs from the nominate in having a larger bill and paler undersides.[2]

Presumed to be closely related to other Malaconotus, and has been considered conspecific with both gray-headed bushshrike M. blanchoti and fiery-breasted bushshrike M. cruentus in the past.[2] Cameroonian M. m. perspicillatus has also been theorized to be a color morph of the green-breasted bushshrike.[2] The specific phylogenetic relationships of M. monteiri are, as of yet, unknown.

It is found in Angola and Cameroon, with a historical record from the Albertine Rift of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and a lost specimen from Kakamega Forest, Kenya.[2]

This species' habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. In Angola, the nominate subspecies is found primarily along the Angolan Escarpment, with a distribution mirroring that of other Angolan endemic taxa.[3]

This species is largely unknown outside of Angola. Cameroonian birds are described as the subspecies Malaconotus monteiri perspicillatus based on a single specimen from Mt. Cameroon in 1894.[2] The subspecies of records in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya has not been confirmed, though the Congolese record has tentatively assigned to perspicillatus in the past.[2] There are scattered sightings of reported individuals in other mountain ranges in western Cameroon (namely, Mt. Kupé and the nearby Bakossi Mountains), though these records are usually considered unconfirmed.[2]

It is probably threatened by habitat loss like other birds in its range, but its actual status remains unknown due to its elusiveness.