Cricket Longtail
Spiloptila clamans
Tiny warbler with an extremely long, strongly-patterned tail. Note blackish wing coverts with white tips, gray on the back of the neck, and a warm brown back. Males have a dark crown over a pale eyebrow. Roves in small family groups in open acacia savanna, foraging in bushes and often on the ground while continuously moving tail. Song a rapid, insectlike high-pitched repeating whistle. Contact call a high-pitched repeating note "pi, pi, pi…"
Identification
The cricket warbler is a small, perky warbler with a long tail made up of twelve grey, black and white tipped feathers with the feathers getting longer from the outside to the centre, creating a graduated tail. It is pale buffy rufous on the upperparts, with black streaks on the crown and black tips to the primaries and upper wing coverts, a pale yellow rump, a white supercilium and whitish cream underparts. The male has a greyer cast across the nape. 9–10 cm in length.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Spiloptila clamans
- Authority
- (Cretzschmar, 1826)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Columbidae
- Genus
- Spiloptila
Range and habitat
The cricket warbler occurs in the Sahel Zone from southern Mauritania and northern Senegal east to South Sudan and northern Eritrea. They have recently been found breeding in the Western Sahara at Oued Jenna near Assouerd. The cricket warbler breeds in thorn scrub, especially acacia scrub, it even extends into true desert so long as there is sufficient vegetation and into savanna with broad-leafed trees but avoids grassy plains or dense bush.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Nilgiri Flycatcher
Eumyias albicaudatus
Entirely indigo-blue male is unique; Verditer Flycatcher is brighter blue and more elongated. Female Nilgiri is gray overall, though can sometimes show a bluish tinge in good lighting. Song consists of a lengthy series of various whistles and warbled notes, typically given from an exposed perch by both sexes. Sallies from perches in hill forest and forest edge; most common above 1200 meters.
Luzon Rail
Lewinia mirifica
A mysterious medium-sized rail, possibly of foothill or montane grassy areas and forests. Dark brown above with a pale gray chest, a whitish throat, a barred belly, blackish legs, and a fairly long, curved reddish bill. Little known in life and mainly seen at a banding station, suggesting local migration. Similar to Slaty-breasted and Buff-banded Rails, but Luzon has a fairly unpatterned back, a longer, thinner bill, and no rufous on the head. Voice little known, although when distressed, gives a sharp “kwik!” and various squeals.
Red-whiskered Bulbul
Pycnonotus jocosus
Medium-sized songbird, brown above and whitish below with a tall black crest and dark “spur” on the side of the breast. Small red patch on ear and red undertail coverts. White tips on tail feathers. Generally found in pairs or small groups in gardens, orchards, forest edge, and open forests. Pleasant song consists of rich warbled phrases; calls include high-pitched pips, a long buzzy note, and a sharp “pik-pik-a-wew.” A common species in the Asian cagebird trade and escapee populations occasionally become established north of their natural range; also introduced to Florida, California, and Hawaii.
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