Gray-headed Oliveback Delacourella capistrata Scientific name definitions

14 cm; 10·8-13·2 g. Crown, nape and neck and most of underparts grey, upperparts and tail olive to golden-olive, upper­wing greyish-brown, wing edged yellowish-olive; forehead, lores and face to behind eye and cheek white, black bib from chin to throat and extending laterally as half-collar across neck; flanks yellow; iris dark brown to dark red, eyering dark grey; bill black; legs dark grey. Sexes alike. Juvenile like adult, but grey darker, face patch grey, flanks olive-buff, bill grey with dusky base and tip.

Some studies of mitochondrial genes suggested that this species was closer to Estrilda than to congeners when formerly classified as Nesocharis capistrata; placement in separate genus Delacourella has since been decided as merited. Monotypic.

Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, S Mali and Ivory Coast E to Togo, Benin, N & E Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, W South Sudan, NE DRCongo and NW Uganda; old record from Gambia.

Grassy savannas and forest edge, riparian woodland, grassy guinean woodland, undergrowth, near swamps, streams and rivers; in Uganda, below 1200 m.

Resident.

Seeds of wild figs (Ficus), other fruits and grasses; also small insects, including ants (Formicidae) and caterpillars, and snails. Forages from canopy down to ground. Acrobatic; gleans leaves and twigs, flies from leaf to leaf. Takes seeds on ground. Forages singly and in pairs.

Call a lisping "tsssp". Song a series of clear, slurred whistles, begins with down­slurred notes, then shorter notes, progressively lower in pitch through the series, "chwee-chwee-chwee-chwi"; another song theme a repeated series of notes on high pitch.

Nest-building in Jul–Aug in Togo, and breeds Jun–Jul in Nigeria, Jul–Oct in NE DRCongo (Uele) and May–Jun in Uganda. Nest a hollow tangle of dry weeds and grass stems, with side entrance and drooping spout, sited c. 2·5 m above ground in fork in bush or tree. Clutch 3–5 eggs, incubation period 15–16 days; nestling skin black, grey down on head and back, upper gape with curved white arc and white ball below it, lower gape with two white balls (white swellings backed with black), palate pale pink to yellowish with five large black spots on pale bluish background, tongue pink with dusky band and grey tip; nestling period 21–22 days.

Not globally threatened. Widespread, but generally uncommon to scarce. Very few records from W parts of range. Recorded once in Gambia (in 1968). Occurs in many protected areas throughout range.