From Opus

Photo by Alan Manson
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

Alternative name: Yellow-throated Wood-Warbler

Phylloscopus ruficapilla

[edit] Identification

Length 10-12 cm, mass 8 g. The crown and the stripes behind the eyes are bright rufous-brown, the eyebrows and cheeks are yellow, and the lores blackish. The back is olive-grey, the wings greenish, and the tail dark brown. The chin, throat, breast and vent are bright lemon-yellow. The flanks are grey, and the belly is white. The rufous-brown crown and yellow vent are diagnostic.

[edit] Distribution

Discontinuous from southern South Africa through eastern Africa to Kenya.

[edit] Taxonomy

Seven subspecies have been recognized, based on variation in the colour of the back, crown and underparts. P. r. voelckeri, from extreme southern South Africa, west of about 28° 20' E, has a yellow central belly. P. r. ruficapilla (described above) is from the eastern Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the highland forests of Swaziland, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo Province. P. r. alacris is from the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe and adjacent Mozambique. The northern subspecies are P. r. minullus (Kenya, Tanzania), P. r. ochrogularis (Tanzania), P. r. johnstoni (Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi), and P. r. quelimanensis (Mozambique).

[edit] Habitat

Forest canopy and midstratum.

[edit] Behaviour

Some populations are resident, whereas others are altitudinal migrants. Usually found singly or in pairs, they are often located by their contact-call, a high-pitched wittee or zit-zit. They are highly active as they forage for invertebrates, often with other species in feeding flocks.

[edit] References

Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ & Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Robert's Birds of Southern Africa, 7th edition. Cape Town: John Voelcker Bird Book Fund. ISBN 0620340533

Lepage D. 2007. Avibase. Search for Phylloscopus ruficapilla downloaded 18 September 2007.

[edit] External Links