Sierra Leone Prinia
Schistolais leontica
A mostly dark gray long-tailed warbler with a striking whitish eye, buff flanks, and pinkish legs. Local and scarce in a handful of hills and mountains in Upper Guinea, where pairs and small groups skulk low down in very wet forest edge, riverine scrub, and thickets in gullies between 600 and 1600 meters of elevation. Calls include a high-pitched “sit-sit-sit.” and a more nasal “bur-bur-bur.” Other warblers lack the pale eye.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Schistolais leontica
- Authority
- (Bates, GL, 1930)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cisticolidae
- Genus
- Schistolais
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Blue-headed Parrot
Pionus menstruus
Medium-sized parrot, short square tail, body all green with blue head and red undertail coverts. Plumage is distinctive if seen well. Sexes alike. Note deep wingbeats that don’t come above horizontal on the upbeat. Screeching call note rises noticeably in pitch, usually given doubled or tripled.
Zitting Cisticola
Cisticola juncidis
Very small, with a distinctive short, rounded tail with conspicuous spots at the tip. Body sandy-colored below, streaky above. Breeding males have a dark bill and crown. Found in open grasslands, meadows, marshes, and agricultural areas. Most readily detected by its repetitive and monotonous song, given from either a perch or in an undulating song flight. Song varies across wide distribution, ranging from evenly-paced squeaky “tsik, tsik” of African and European birds to the fast dry ticking of Southeast Asian birds.
Striped Pipit
Anthus lineiventris
Large pipit with a dark brown back and heavily marked underparts, with streaks all the way down to the belly. The feathers on the front of the wing have yellow-green edges, which is distinctive, though difficult to see. Found on rocky slopes within woodland. The song is loud and pretty: a rollicking series of repeated notes. Separated from other pipits by the heavily and completely striped underparts.
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