Cricket Longtail Spiloptila clamans Scientific name definitions

11–12 cm; 6–8 g. A tiny, prinia-like warbler with long, strongly graduated tail (of twelve feathers), highly distinctive plumage. Male has crown speckled black and white (black-centred feathers with white margins), lores and supercilium whitish; face and nape pale grey, merging into cinnamon-buff on mantle, back and rump; flight-feathers brown with narrow pale pinkish margins, pink becoming broader towards inner secondaries; greater upperwing-coverts blackish with broad white margins, median coverts blackish with pale grey margins, lesser coverts buffy brown; tail brown, feathers with broad white tip and darker brown subterminal band; throat and underparts cream to pale buff; iris medium brown, with dull reddish or pinkish orbital ring ; bill blackish, paler base; legs yellowish-pink. Female differs from male in having crown less heavily marked, nape buffy, and tail shorter. Juvenile has crown streaked brown, buffy edges of inner secondaries.

SW Western Sahara (1 Amezian, M., Radi, M., Ibn Tattou, M., Khayya, M.L., Samlali, M.L. and Qninba, A. (2011). Cricket Longtail breeding in southern Morocco. Dutch Birding 33(4): 229–233. Close ) and Sahel Zone from S Mauritania and N Senegal E to Sudan and N Eritrea.

Confined to Sahel biome; occurs in arid and semi-arid savannas, mainly in acacia (<em>Acacia</em>) scrub , but also broadleaf savanna in Eritrea.

Little known; presumably mostly resident, but may be a partial migrant along N edge of range.

Diet mainly insects. Forages singly , in paris or in small family parties. Moves through scrubby vegetation or on ground; tail continuously rotated and flirted.

Song  , given while moving through vegetation (not from exposed perch), a high-pitched, slightly squeaky whistle, “peeeep peeeep peeeep” or “pip-pip-pip-pip”, also a trilled “prreep prreep prreep”; note length and repeat rate vary considerably, from 1–2 notes per second when calls long (then reminiscent of Pogoniulus tinkerbirds) to short, rapid, prinia-like notes when calls short (5–10 notes per second); sometimes partners duet  . Alarm call a hard “zrt zrt”.

Mainly Jun–Dec, but may breed at other times (e.g. Jan–Apr in Sudan), possibly linked to local rainfall. Probably monogamous; solitary, territorial. Nest a deep cup, sometimes partly or completely roofed over, made from grass and other vegetation, lined with plant down and feathers, built within 2 m of ground in dense bush or low down in grass tussock. Clutch 2–4 eggs, rarely 5, usually 3–4 in Senegal and 2–3 in Niger; no information on incubation and nestling periods. Nest parasitism by either Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius) or Klaas’s Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx klaas) recorded. Nests often destroyed by fires or trampled by cattle.

Not globally threatened. Locally common; uncommon in some areas. Recently found breeding in Western Sahara, near Awserd, c.120 km N of Mauritanian border (2 Charlton, T.D. (2011). First record of Cricket Warblers in South Atlantic Morocco, September 2007. Go-South Bulletin. 8: 38–40. Close , 3 Amezian, M., Radi, M., Ibn Tattou, M., Khayya, M.L., Samlali, M.L and Qninba, A. (2011). Cricket Longtail breeding in southern Morocco. Dutch Birding. 33: 229–233. Close , 4 Castell, P., Castell, R., Jackson, A. and Pleasance, B. (2011). The nest of Cricket Longtail Spiloptila clamans at Oued Jenaa, Awserd. Go-South Bulletin. 8: 113. Close ).