CreatureData

White-backed mousebird

Colius colius (Linnaeus, 1766)

LCLeast Concernbirds

The white-backed mousebird (Colius colius) is a species in the family Coliidae, order Coliiformes. Recorded adults weigh 41.3 g to 45 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

White-backed mousebird (Colius colius)
Photo: JonRichfield · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the white-backed mousebird

Weight
41.3 g – 45 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Frugivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
8 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
shrublandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3 – 3.3src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
11.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the white-backed mousebird live?

Not recorded

What is the white-backed mousebird?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The white-backed mousebird (Colius colius) is a large species of mousebird. It is distributed in western and central regions of southern Africa from Namibia and southern Botswana eastwards to Central Transvaal and the eastern Cape.

This mousebird prefers scrubby dry habitats, such as thornveld, fynbos scrub and semi-desert.

From the Wikipedia article “White-backed mousebird” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White-backed_mousebird&oldid=1315325466), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the white-backed mousebird endangered?

The white-backed mousebird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the white-backed mousebird classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderColiiformes
  5. familyColiidae
  6. genusColius
  7. SpeciesColius colius (Linnaeus, 1766)
Other names and names in other languages (36)
  • WBMOEnglish
  • White-backed colyEnglish
  • Whiteback mousebirdEnglish
  • Whitebacked mousebirdEnglish
  • WitkruismuisvoëlAfrikaans
  • كولي أبيض الظهرArabic
  • ocell ratolí de dors blancCatalan
  • myšák bělohřbetýCzech
  • coli cefnwynWelsh
  • Hvidrygget MusefuglDanish
  • WeißrückenmausvogelGerman
  • Weißrücken-MausvogelGerman
  • blankdorsa musbirdoEsperanto
  • Pájaro ratón dorsiblancoSpanish
  • triipselg-hiirlindEstonian
  • valkoperähiiroFinnish
  • Coliou à dos blancFrench
  • קוליוס לבן-גבHebrew
  • sivoglava mišjakinjaCroatian
  • fehérhátú egérmadárHungarian
  • Uccello topo dorsobiancoItalian
  • セジロネズミドリJapanese
  • baltanugaris pelėpaukštisLithuanian
  • WitrugmuisvogelDutch
  • WitstuitmuisvogelDutch
  • hvitryggmusfuglNorwegian
  • czepiga białogrzbietaPolish
  • rabo-de-junco-de-dorso-brancoPortuguese
  • Белоспинная птица-мышьRussian
  • myšovec bielochrbtýSlovak
  • Beloleđi koliSerbian
  • vitryggig musfågelSwedish
  • Ak Sırtlı FarekuşuTurkish
  • чепіга намібійськаUkrainian
  • 白背鼠鳥Chinese
  • 白背鼠鸟Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the white-backed mousebird

Other species in the same genus Colius.

CompareWhite-backed mousebird vs Speckled mousebirdWhite-backed mousebird vs White-headed mousebirdWhite-backed mousebird vs Red-backed mousebird

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the white-backed mousebird?

An adult white-backed mousebird weighs 41.3 g – 45 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the white-backed mousebird endangered?

The white-backed mousebird is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the white-backed mousebird?

The white-backed mousebird (Colius colius) belongs to the family Coliidae in the order Coliiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). White-backed mousebird (Colius colius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-backed-mousebird

MLA

“White-backed mousebird (Colius colius).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-backed-mousebird.

BibTeX
@misc{white_backed_mousebird_2026,
  title = {White-backed mousebird (Colius colius)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/white-backed-mousebird},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}