From Opus

Alternative name: Long-billed Crombec

Sylvietta rufescens

Photo by safariranger
Nylsvlei, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Photo by Max Holdt
Windhoek, Namibia

[edit] Identification

Length 10-12 cm, mass 9-13 g. Tail very short; appears tailless in the field.

Upper parts brownish grey to blueish grey and underparts tawny cinnamon to cinnamon buff. The eyebrow is whitish to pale tawny, contrasting with a dark eye-stripe.

[edit] Distribution

Africa south of the equator: Western Angola, eastern DRC and western Tanzania south to South Africa.

[edit] Taxonomy

Sylvietta rufescens has seven subspecies that differ mainly in the shades of grey and brown on their upper parts and shades of buff and rufous on their under parts:

• S. r. adelphe
• S. r. ansorgei
• S. r. flecki
• S. r. pallida
• S. r. rufescens
• S. r. diverga
• S. r. resurga

[edit] Habitat

Woodland, savanna, arid shrublands.

[edit] Behaviour

Forages restlessly in bushes and the lower canpoy of trees, mainly for invertebrates; also eats seeds, fruit and nectar. Often seen in mixed-species feeding flocks; its often-repeated prrrp contact call is probably key to keepng these parties together.

[edit] Breeding

Monogamous and territorial. The nest is a deep purse of plant fibres and spider web, built about a metre above the ground, and suspended from the end of a branch of a bush or small tree. One to three eggs are laid August to February; incubated for 14 days by both sexes.

[edit] External Links