Long-billed Tailorbird
Artisornis moreaui
Inconspicuous, apalis-like grayish warbler with a long tail, straight thin bill, and buff-brown forehead. Isolated population in Mozambique, sometimes considered a different species (Njesi Tailorbird), is smaller, darker, and browner on the head. Singles and pairs are very low density, shy and creep slowly through the undergrowth and canopy, especially nearby streams; sometimes joins mixed-species flocks. Song a pleasant sweet bouncing “eeh-yuh, eeh-yuh, eeh-yuh” or strident “peelik-peelik-peelik”, sometimes joined in duet with a dry buzzing “dzit”; call a high-pitched “chhet” like a squeaky dog’s toy. Similar Brown-headed Apalis is shorter-billed than Long-billed Tailorbird and has white tips to the tail.
Identification
The long-billed forest warbler is a small, plump, inconspicuous warbler, growing to a length of about 10 cm (4 in). The upper parts are greyish and the underparts a rather paler grey. The head sometimes has a brownish tinge, and bears filoplumes. The beak is long and slender, and the tail is long and is frequently cocked when the bird is excited. The call is a distinctive metallic "peedoo peedoo"; this bird is easier to detect by hearing its call than by sight. It is similar in appearance to the red-capped forest warbler (Artisornis metopias), but that species has a much shorter beak, a more russet head and a rust-washed breast.
Taxonomy
The long-billed forest warbler was formally described in 1931 by the British zoologist William Lutley Sclater from specimens collected by Reginald Ernest Moreau in forest near Amani in the Usambara Mountains of eastern Tanzania. Sclater coined the binomial name Apalis moreaui with the specific epithet chosen to honour the collector. This warbler is now placed with the red-capped forest warbler in the genus Artisornis that was introduced in 1928 by the American ornithologist Herbert Friedmann.<p>Two subspecies are recognised:<p>Some taxonomists treat A. m. sousae as a separate species, the Mozambique forest warbler.
- Scientific name
- Artisornis moreaui
- Authority
- (Sclater, WL, 1931)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cisticolidae
- Genus
- Artisornis
Range and habitat
Subspecies moreaui is endemic to the East Usambara plateau in Tanzania. In the Usamabaras it is present in the Amani Nature Reserve and the Nilo Nature Reserve. The East Usambara plateau is known as a biodiversity hotspot and has many endemic species.<p>The Mozambique forest warbler (Artisornis moreaui sousae) is endemic to the Njesi Highlands of northern Mozambique. Its natural habitat is evergreen Afromontane forest patches and riparian forests. It has been observed between 1,430 and 1,850 meters elevation on the three highest mountains – the Njesi Plateau, Mount Chitagal, and Mount Sanga – in the highlands. It was found in the mid-storey and canopy (never the understorey), particularly around forest gaps and tree falls, forest clearings, and dense vine tangles.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Handsome, mostly silvery gray bird of tropical lowland forest and adjacent semi-open areas with taller trees. Usually found at mid-upper levels of fruiting trees, sometimes in small groups that mix readily with the commoner Masked Tityra. Black-crowned is told from slightly larger Masked by its solidly black bill. Male is more silvery overall, with a black cap; female had brown face and smaller black cap. Tityras nest in tree cavities, that they sometimes steal from woodpeckers.
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