Alternative name: Long-billed Bush-creeper
- Macrosphenus flavicans
Identification
13 cm (5 in). A greenish-grey, medium-sized warbler.
- Long, straight bill with small hook at tip
- Dark olive-grey top of head, paler cheek and ear-coverts
- Dark olive-green upperparts and upper wing-coverts, yellow-tinged on feathers of back and rump
- Dark grey-brown, short tail
- Greyish chin and throat
- Greenish-yellow underparts
Sexes similar, males larger than females.
Variations
- hypochondriacus is less dark above, has whitish chin and throat, richer olive-yellow underparts, a washed olive-grey breast and tinged orange flanks
Distribution
Africa: From extreme southeast Nigeria to Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, DR Congo to northwest Angola. Also from eastern DR Congo to Uganda, northwestern Tanzania, Central African Republic and extreme southwestern South Sudan.
Common in most of its range.
Taxonomy
Forms a superspecies with Kemp's Longbill and has been treated conspecific with it.
Subspecies
Two subspecies recognized[1]:
- M. f. flavicans from extreme southeast Nigeria to Cameroon, Angola and western DR Congo, also on Bioko
- M. f. hypochondriacus from southeastern Central African Republic, southwestern South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and extreme northwestern Tanzania
Habitat
Found in primary and secondary forest, also in logged areas.
Occurs mainly in lowlands but also up to lower montane levels. 1000 to 1400 m in Uganda, up to 1800 m in DR Congo.
Behaviour
Diet
Feeds on insects, takes also some fruit.
Forages in thick undergrowth and tangled creepers. Usually seen in pairs or family groups, often in mixed-species flocks.
Breeding
A territorial species. No other information on breeding.
Movements
This is a sedentary species.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved July 2014)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Yellow Longbill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow_Longbill
