African Penduline Tit - BirdForum Opus

Alternative name: Grey Penduline Tit

Photo by Alan Manson
Mkhuze Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Anthoscopus caroli

Includes Buff-bellied Penduline-Tit

Identification

Length 8-9 cm, mass 6.0-6.9 g
Adult: Face buffy, upper parts grey. Wings and tail dark grey-brown, feathers with pale edges. Throat and breast greyish white, belly and flanks cinnamon buff. Eyes dark brown to black; legs and feet grey.

Distribution

Sub-Saharan Africa: North-western South Africa, eSwatini, eastern and northern Botswana, northern Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia, Angola, Tanzania, southern Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and isolated populations in southern Kenya and northern Republic of the Congo.

Taxonomy

There are nine to 11 subspecies based on shades of plumage colouration.^[1][2][3]

Subspecies^[1]

• A. c. ansorgei:

• South-eastern Gabon to Angola and south-western Zaire

• A. c. caroli:

• Northern Namibia, southern Angola, Botswana and south-western Zambia

• A. c. roccatii:

• Uganda, north-eastern Zaire, Rwanda, Burundi, north-eeastern Tanzania and western Kenya

• A. c. rhodesiae:

• South-eastern Zaire to north-eastern Zambia and south-western Tanzania (Ufipa Plateau)

• A. c. sylviella (rothschildi):

• South-central Kenya (east of Rift Valley) to central Tanzania

• A. c. sharpei:

• South-western Kenya and northern Tanzania

• A. c. robertsi (taruensis):

• Mozambique, Malawi, south-eastern Zambia, eastern Tanzania and south-eastern Kenya

• A. c. pallescens:

• Western Tanzania (Kigoma, Kungwe-Mahari)

• A. c. winterbottomi:

• North-western Zambia and adjacent southern Zaire (southern Katanga)

• A. c. hellmayri:

• Eastern and southern Zimbabwe, southern Mozambique, South Africa and eastern eSwatini

• A. c. rankinei:

• Zambesi River between north-eastern Zimbabwe and north-western Mozambique

Sylviella is sometimes split as Buff-bellied Penduline-Tit.

Habitat

Broad-leaved woodland (including those dominated by Combretum, Terminalia, Burkea and Brachystegia); less common in Acacia woodland.

Behaviour

Usually seen in pairs or family groups of up to seven individuals. Roosts in old nests, including those of Ploceus Weavers.

Diet

Forages actively for insects in tree canopies, probing flower clusters, leaf buds, twigs and fruit. Also feeds on Aloe nectar.

Breeding

Monogamous; nesting is solitary. The nest is a oval bag made from plant down and spider web; it has a collapsible entrance spout near the top. Two to eight eggs are laid August to February (in southern Africa).

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. Hockey PAR, Dean WRJ & Ryan PG (eds) 2005. Robert's Birds of Southern Africa, 7th edition. John Voelcker Bird Book Fund, Cape Town, South Africa. ISBN 0620340533

External Links

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