Little Rush Warbler
Bradypterus baboecala
A nondescript long-tailed, long-billed warbler of wetlands. Varies geographically: the back can be dark brown or rusty brown, and the underparts can have heavy distinct streaking or a bit of blurry streaking. Found in reedbed wetland habitat, including papyrus. Extremely secretive and skulking. Most often seen when it sits up to sing or gives a short display flight. Song starts with slow, hesitant, low wooden notes that speed up, then ends with a trill made by beating the wings together at incredible speed. The variably streaked breast separates it from reed-warblers and swamp-warblers. Very similar to Highland Rush Warbler, but there is little or no overlap in range, and Little sings a much lower-pitched song.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Bradypterus baboecala
- Authority
- (Vieillot, 1817)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Locustellidae
- Genus
- Bradypterus
Range and habitat
It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Republic of the Congo, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, South Sudan, Eswatini, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitat is swamps.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Little Slaty Flycatcher
Ficedula basilanica
A small bird of tangled undergrowth in lowland and foothill forest. White below with pale orange legs. Male has dark gray upperparts and a short white stripe behind each eye. Upperparts are dark brown in female with no head stripes. Female similar to Chestnut-tailed Jungle-Flycatcher, but has orange legs and a dark brown rather than chestnut tail. Song consists of short, varied whistled notes, often in a rising or falling series. Also gives single thin high downslurred whistles.
Bald Parrot
Pyrilia aurantiocephala
A most remarkable parrot with an entirely bare orange head and nape. Note the bright orange shoulder patch and in flight the red underwings. Occurs in humid forests, including those on white-sand forests. In flight gives nasal, high-pitched “skee-skee-skee” notes.
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