Mountain Yellow-Warbler
Iduna similis
Medium-sized, long-tailed, long-billed warbler. The back is olive-green and the underparts yellow. Found in montane habitats including bamboo, moist scrub, and forest edge. An active and energetic bird of the undergrowth. The distinctive song is an exuberant mix of downslurred and upslurred whistles and low rattles. Similar to African Yellow-Warbler, but in the areas where they overlap, mostly found at higher elevations, and distinguished by the olive-green, not black cap.
Identification
This is a medium-sized bird with an olive and yellow coloration throughout the plumage. The head and back of the bird are olive-green in color, while the stomach is vibrant yellow. This bird's bill is very short and dark brown. The adult male and female are very similar in looks while the adolescent is browner and a paler yellow color. This bird is known for being very territorial.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Iduna similis
- Authority
- (Richmond, 1897)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Acrocephalidae
- Genus
- Iduna
Range and habitat
The Mountain Yellow Warbler is spread across many areas throughout Africa such as South Sudan, Northeast and Southwest Uganda, highlands of DR Congo, West Rwanda, West Burundi, Kenya, North and East Tanzania, and Nyika Plateau on the Zambia border. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. Common areas where this bird may be spotted are in places of vegetation or within bushes found along swampy valleys. The Mountain Yellow Warbler is known to be in high altitudes of the forest areas. This bird's movement tends to be sedentary where they will stay in a place for an extended period of time.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
The Mountain Yellow Warbler is not a globally threatened species. They are distributed locally in a fragmented range in and around East Africa’s highlands. They are reasonably adaptive to their surroundings and can thrive in secondary habitats because they are found to not be dependent on forests.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Sakesphorus luctuosus
A large antshrike with a spiky crest, an often partially concealed white wingbar, and a white-tipped tail. Males are entirely glossy black while females have a chestnut crest. Inhabits the understory of seasonally and permanently flooded forest with vine tangles and dense thickets, where its far-carrying song, an accelerating series of “tah” notes, rings out. Normally forages in pairs and occasionally accompanies mixed-species flocks.
Mottle-cheeked Tyrannulet
Phylloscartes ventralis
Small olive-yellow flycatcher with a long slender tail, which is often held cocked. Olive above and yellow below with a pale eyebrow, a white chin, and two pale wingbars. Found in montane forests including Araucaria forests, where it forages actively in the middle and upper layers of the forest often with mixed-species flocks. The song is short and high-pitched.
Little Cuckoo
Coccycua minuta
Like a miniature version of the more common Squirrel Cuckoo, it is mostly rufous with a yellow bill, red eye, and gray belly. Much smaller and relatively shorter-tailed than Squirrel Cuckoo. Uncommon but widespread in lowlands and foothills, preferring thick understory at forest edges, often near water. Usually skulky and difficult to see. Listen for a nasal “enk!” and ascending rattle.
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