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Yellow-necked Greenbul Chlorocichla falkensteini Scientific name definitions

Lincoln Fishpool and Joseph A. Tobias
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2005

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

18–20 cm; male 37–41 g, female 29–37 g. A medium-sized greenbul with conspicuous yellow throat. Has lores and fore cheeks darkish grey; rest of head, including rear cheeks and ear-coverts, side of neck and whole of upperparts, including wings and tail, bright olive-green; carpal area yellow; chin and throat bright lemon-yellow, this colour extending a little way onto side of neck; underparts pale grey, becoming creamy on belly, washed yellowish-olive on undertail-coverts and thighs; underwing-coverts and axillaries sulphur-yellow; iris dark red, crimson or orange-red; bill black or dark greenish-grey; legs blue or blue-grey. Distinguished from C. flaviventris by being grey (not yellow) below, and by lacking eyering; from Atimastillas flavigula by smaller size, green (not brown) upperparts, red (not pale) eyes. Sexes alike, female on average smaller than male. Juvenile resembles adult, but gape yellow, eyes light brown.

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Proposed form viridescentior (R Dja region of S Cameroon) appears undiagnosable. Monotypic.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Chlorocichla falkensteini viridescentior Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S Cameroon (River Ja region)
SUBSPECIES

Chlorocichla falkensteini falkensteini Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S Central African Republic to Rio Muni, sw Democratic Republic of the Congo and n Angola

Distribution

Three apparently disjunct populations: SW Cameroon E to W Central African Republic and S to SE Gabon; SW Gabon, N Angola (Cabinda) and extreme SW DRCongo; and W Angola (Uíge S to Huíla).

Habitat

Isolated forest patches, dense secondary growth, riparian woodland and thicket; avoids forest proper. Favours secondary and anthropogenic habitats, such as clearings and other edge situations, abandoned farmland, fallows, banana plantations, regenerating coffee plantations, deserted villages and gardens.

Movement

Sedentary, at least in Gabon.

Diet and Foraging

Berries and other fruit, including Ficus, Rauwolfia, Solanum, Trema and small peppers; also insects, such as alate termites (Isoptera) and caterpillars. Occurs in pairs or small family parties; occasionally joins mixed-species flocks. Forages in vegetation of small and medium-sized trees and bushes. Often stays hidden, when presence revealed by frequent vocalizations; at other times, will frequently jump out on to exposed perches and call while raising each wing alternately (yellow underwing-coverts) and flicking tail. Territorial all year; in Gabon, present species, A. flavigula and C. simplex seem to exclude one another locally.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a string of 6–10 nasal notes, “kik-kuk-ku-kwéé-uk-wik-e-wik-kup”, or “kip-kop-ko-kwéé-ko-witawit-kup”, with some variations; reminiscent of songs of C. flaviventris and C. simplex in quality. Chattering calls similar.

Breeding

Nesting recorded in May and Jul in Cameroon; Nov in Gabon, where flying young seen Jun, nest-building Jan and Mar, and most vocal Sept–Feb; birds in breeding condition in Oct and juveniles with traces of down in Jan in Angola. Territorial. Only one nest described, built by presumed female, accompanying mate singing, a shallow cup of bark fragments and leaf stems, lined with fine grasses, internal diameter 5·5 × 6·5 cm, in fork of bush. Clutch 2 eggs; incubation by female only; no information on inclubation and nestling periods; fledglings fed with caterpillars by both parents.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally common to rare. Density in Gabon up to 12–15 birds/ha in places, but often much lower. Occurs in a number of protected areas, including Campo Ma’an National Park, in Cameroon, Dzanga-Ndoki National Park, in Central African Republic, Lopé National Park, in Gabon, Odzala National Park, in PRCongo, Bombo-Lumene Game Reserve, in DRCongo, and Quiçama National Park, in Angola.
Distribution of the Yellow-necked Greenbul - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Yellow-necked Greenbul

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Fishpool, L. and J. A. Tobias (2020). Yellow-necked Greenbul (Chlorocichla falkensteini), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.yengre1.01
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