Taita fine singer
| Taita fine singer | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Apalis fuscigularis | ||||||||||||
| Moreau , 1938 |
The Taita singers ( Apalis fuscigularis ) is a rare songbird belonging to the genus of the singers ( Apalis ). It is endemic to the Taita Hills in Kenya .
description
The Taita fine singer was until 1994 a subspecies of the collar fine singer ( Apalis thoracica ). It reaches a length of 14 to 16 centimeters. The top is slate gray. The wings and tail are dark gray. The throat and chest are black. The belly is white to off-white. The eyes are silvery white. Its reputation consists of a repetitive pillipp pillipp .
Occurrence
The occurrence of the Taita fine singer is limited to four forest fragments in Ngangao , Chawia , Fururu and Vuria in the Dabida massif in the Taita Hills.
Way of life
The Taita warbler prefers to stay in the undergrowth on the edges of montane forests. He is very sociable and lives in pairs or in small family groups of four to six individuals. It is territorial. Its diet consists of flies, small invertebrates, berries and seeds.
Danger
Forest clearance has shrunk the habitat to a total area of 1.5 km². Another threat comes from afforestation with non-indigenous timber. The IUCN therefore classifies the species as " critically endangered " and estimates the total population at 50 to 250 specimens.
literature
- Peter Ryan: Family Cisticolidae (Cisticolas and allies). Pp. 378-492 in Del Hoyo J., Elliott A. & Christie DA (2006) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 11. Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona ISBN 978-84-96553-06-4
Web links
- Apalis fuscigularis inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017.3. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2017.