Namaqua Warbler
Phragmacia substriata
A prinia-like warbler with a russet-colored back and crown, a plain grayish face, and a whitish throat. The long, graduated tail and fine breast streaks are distinctive. Pairs are resident and restricted to the semi-arid Karoo, where they are specialists of reedbeds and thorn tree thickets along dry drainage lines. The species’ presence is often detected by its distinctive song, a dry sharp “tsit” rapidly followed by a sweeter accelerating rattle “tsit-trrrrrrrrrrrrr.” The similar Karoo Prinia differs from Namaqua Warbler by having a shorter scruffier tail, duller gray-brown upperparts, and boldly blotched underparts with streaking that can reach the throat. The voice is also different.
Identification
The Namaqua warbler is 12–13 cm long, with short rounded wings, a long tail, strong legs and a short straight black bill. The head has a whitish eyebrow and the upperparts are otherwise a rich russet brown. The throat and lower face are whitish with no streaking, and the breast is white with faint streaking. The rear flanks are buff. The long, brown tail is typically cocked up at an angle. The feet and legs are pinkish-brown, and the eye is brown. The sexes are identical, but juveniles are duller than the adults. The calls include a high-pitched treeep-treep-trrrrrr.<p>The Namaqua warbler can only be confused with the Karoo prinia, but that species has a shorter, less whispy tail, duller brown back and buff tips to the undertail feathers.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Phragmacia substriata
- Authority
- (Smith, A, 1842)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Macrosphenidae
- Genus
- Phragmacia
Range and habitat
This is a resident breeder in western South Africa and southern Namibia. It is a species endemic to the Karoo in thick bushes in dry river gullies and reedbeds near rivers and dams.
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
The warbler is usually seen in pairs or small groups, typically low in scrub, foraging for small insects, with tail cocked.
Conservation
This common species has a large range, with an estimated extent of 380,000 km². The population size is believed to be large, and the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as least concern.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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