The yellow longbill (''Macrosphenus flavicans'') is a species of

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 ...

in the family

Macrosphenidae The African warblers are a newly erected family Macrosphenidae, of African songbirds. Most of the species were formerly placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, although one species, the rockrunner, was placed in the babbler family, Ti ...

. 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 ...

s are subtropical or tropical moist lowland

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s and 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 ...

Description

The yellow longbill, on average, measures 13 cm from bill to tail and weighs 11-16g. It is medium in size. It has a short tail and a black long straight bill with a small hook at the tip. It has a yellow iris and greenish-yellow underparts. It is dark olive-gray at the top of its head. Its feathers transition to dark olive-green on the upperparts and upper wing and become yellow-tinged on long loose feathers on the back and rump. Sexes are alike in plumage, male being larger than female. The yellow longbill has a span of life of 3.6 years. The current population trend of the yellow longbill is stable. The number of mature individuals is unknown, as is the continuing decline of mature individuals.

Distribution and habitat

The yellow longbill's habitat is in the forest, more specifically the subtropical and tropical moist lowland. Lowland habitats are of the lower and middle levels, including the primary and secondary forest. These forest habitat lowlands involve edges, clearings and logged areas. Lowlands range to levels of 1000-1400m in Uganda and to 1800m in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The geographic range for the yellow longbill includes Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, United Republic of Tanzania, and Uganda. Specific distributions for subspecies have been identified. The ''Macrosphenus flavicans flavicans'' subspecies is distributed throughout extreme southeast Nigeria, Bioko, and southwest and south Cameroon south to lower River Congo and northwest Angola. The ''Macrosphenus flavicans hypochondriacus'' subspecies is distributed throughout southeast Central African Republic, southwest South Sudan (Bengangai Forest), north, central, and east Democratic Republic of the Congo, west and south Uganda and northwest Tanzania (Minziro Forest).

Diet

The diet of a yellow longbill consists of spiders and insects, such as moths, caterpillars, and beetles. Their diet also includes some fruit, making them omnivorous. Yellow longbills forage in pairs or in family groups. Forage groups are sometimes mixed in species. They forage among thick and tangled undergrowth. They also forage in lower canopy areas, especially during the dry season.

Conservation

The conservation status of the yellow longbill is classified as of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

. This classification was assessed on October 1, 2016. They are not globally threatened. They are common in many areas of their range. Two discrete populations of the yellow longbill exist in forests of West and Central Africa. There are few conservation actions in place for the yellow longbill. There are no in-place research and monitoring actions. There are land and water identified conservation sites in place. There are no species management or education conservation actions in place.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1923030 yellow longbill Birds of the Gulf of Guinea Birds of Central Africa yellow longbill Taxonomy articles created by Polbot