The long-billed forest warbler (''Artisornis moreaui''), also known as the long-billed tailorbird, is a

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5,00 ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Cisticolidae The family Cisticolidae is a group of about 160 warblers, small passerine birds found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They were formerly included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae. This family probably originated ...

, formerly part of the "

Old World warbler The Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. They are not closely related to the New World warblers. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxo ...

" assemblage. It is found in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

is subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

s. It is threatened by

habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

Taxonomy

The long-billed forest warbler was

formally described A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differ ...

in 1931 by the British zoologist

William Lutley Sclater William Lutley Sclater (23 September 1863 – 4 July 1944) was a British zoologist and museum director. He was the son of Philip Lutley Sclater and was named after his paternal grandfather, also William Lutley Sclater. Life William's mother, ...

from specimens collected by

Reginald Ernest Moreau Reginald "Reg" Ernest Moreau (29 May 1897 – 30 May 1970) was an English civil servant who worked as an accountant in Tanganyika (now Tanzania) and later contributed to ornithology. He also made studies on the migration of birds between Europe an ...

in forest near Amani in the

Usambara Mountains The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges are approximately long and about half that wide, and they are situated in the Lushoto District ...

of eastern Tanzania. Sclater coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Apalis moreaui'' with the specific epithet chosen to honour the collector. This warbler is now placed with the

red-capped forest warbler The red-capped forest warbler (''Artisornis metopias''), also known as the African tailorbird, is a songbird of the family Cisticolidae, formerly part of the "Old World warbler" assemblage. It is found in Mozambique and Tanzania. Its natural habit ...

in the genus ''

Artisornis ''Artisornis'' is a genus of birds in the family Cisticolidae. It contains the following species: * Red-capped forest warbler, ''Artisornis metopias'' * Long-billed forest warbler, ''Artisornis moreaui'' Taxonomy The genus ''Artisornis'' was i ...

'' that was introduced in 1928 by the American ornithologist

Herbert Friedmann Herbert Friedmann (April 22, 1900 – May 14, 1987) was an American ornithologist. He worked at the Smithsonian Institution for more than 30 years. In 1929 he became a fellow of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and served as the Presiden ...

. Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised: * ''A. m. moreaui'' (Sclater, WL, 1931) – northeast Tanzania * ''A. m. sousae'' ( Benson, 1945) – northwest Mozambique Some taxonomists treat ''A. m. sousae'' as a separate species, the Mozambique forest warbler.

Description

The long-billed forest warbler is a small, plump, inconspicuous warbler, growing to a length of about . The upper parts are greyish and the underparts a rather paler grey. The head sometimes has a brownish tinge, and bears

filoplume Feathers are epidermal growths that form a distinctive outer covering, or plumage, on both avian (bird) and some non-avian dinosaurs and other archosaurs. They are the most complex integumentary structures found in vertebrates and an exampl ...

s. The beak is long and slender, and the tail is long and is frequently cocked when the bird is excited. The call is a distinctive metallic "''peedoo peedoo''"; this bird is easier to detect by hearing its call than by sight. It is similar in appearance to the

(''Artisornis metopias''), but that species has a much shorter beak, a more russet head and a rust-washed breast.

Distribution and habitat

Subspecies ''moreaui'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to the East Usambara plateau in Tanzania. In the Usamabaras it is present in the

Amani Nature Reserve The Amani Forest Reserve, officially listed as Amani Nature Forest Reserve (''Msitu wa Akiba wa Amani'', In Swahili) is a forest reserve of Tanzania located the Muheza and Korogwe Districts in the Tanga Region of Tanzania. The nature reserve ...

and the Nilo Nature Reserve. The East Usambara plateau is known as a

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a ecoregion, biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after ...

and has many endemic species. The Mozambique forest warbler (''Artisornis moreaui sousae'') is endemic to the

Njesi Highlands The Njesi Highlands ( Portuguese: ''Serra Jeci'') are a range of mountains in northern Mozambique. Geography The highlands rise east of Lake Malawi in the western portion of Mozambique's Niassa Province. They are north of Lichinga, the provinci ...

of northern

. Its natural

is evergreen

Afromontane The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions o ...

forest patches and

riparian forest A riparian forest or riparian woodland is a forested or wooded area of land adjacent to a body of water such as a river, stream, pond, lake, marshland, estuary, canal, Sink (geography), sink, or reservoir. Due to the broad nature of the definitio ...

s. It has been observed between 1,430 and 1,850 meters elevation on the three highest mountains – the Njesi Plateau, Mount Chitagal, and Mount Sanga – in the highlands. It was found in the mid-storey and canopy (never the understorey), particularly around forest gaps and tree falls, forest clearings, and dense vine tangles.

Status

''A. moreaui moreaui'' has a small total area of occurrence which is estimated to be approximately . It is an uncommon, and elusive species occurring at a low density, and the total number of mature birds is estimated to be thirty to two hundred. On this basis, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

has assessed its conservation status as being "

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

"; however if its range turns out to be more extensive than is currently recognised, its rating is likely to be lowered to a less threatened category. The total population of the Mozambique forest warbler is conservatively estimated to include 50-249 mature individuals, but may be more numerous, and is considered stable. It is classified as endangered based on its small population and limited range.Samuel EI Jones, Gabriel A Jamie, Emidio Sumbane & Merlijn Jocque (2020) The avifauna, conservation and biogeography of the Njesi Highlands in northern Mozambique, with a review of the country’s Afromontane birdlife, Ostrich, 91:1, 45-56, DOI: 10.2989/00306525.2019.1675795 In 1945 the British ornithologist Constantine Benson identified a second population from bird skins collected by

Jali Makawa Jali Makawa (c. 1914 – 1995) was a Mozambique-born bird expert who assisted the British ornithologist Constantine Walter Benson, C.W. "Con" Benson. He also worked with other ornithologists and collectors in east Africa including Melvin Alvah Trayl ...

in the

of northern Mozambique. Benson classified the Mozambique birds as a subspecies of the long-billed forest warbler, ''Apalis moreaui sousae''. The Njesi Highlands and Usambara Plateau are separated by and the bird is not known to occur in the intervening area. The Mozambique race is now sometimes treated as a separate species, the Mozambique forest warbler.

References

External links

BirdLife Species Factsheet for ''Artisornis moreaui''BirdLife Species Factsheet for ''Artistornis sousae''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3315365

long-billed forest warbler The long-billed forest warbler (''Artisornis moreaui''), also known as the long-billed tailorbird, is a songbird of the family Cisticolidae, formerly part of the "Old World warbler" assemblage. It is found in Tanzania and Mozambique. Its natural ...

Taxonomy articles created by Polbot