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- Victorin's Warbler
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Victorin's Warbler Cryptillas victorini Scientific name definitions

David Pearson
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2006

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

15–17 cm; 10 g. A short-winged warbler with long wedge-shaped tail of ten narrow feathers, pale eyes, rather small and fine bill. Adult has top and side of head grayish, poorly defined narrow cinnamon-buff stripe above lores; back, upperwing and tail dark warm brown; entirely cinnamon-brown below, palest and buffier on throat and center of belly; iris reddish brown to orange-yellow; bill grayish brown, paler with yellowish base below; tarsi grayish brown to pinkish. Sexes alike. Juvenile has upperparts dark brownish gray, chin to breast light rufous-brown, but underparts paler than adult; eyes gray.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

S South Africa: Western Cape (S from N Cedarberg Mts) E along coast (ranging to c. 75 km inland) to S Eastern Cape (Uitenhage).

Habitat

Thickets and rank vegetation; sedges and tall rushes along streams and boggy watercourses, wet mountain slopes, forest edges and damp fern-filled glades; macchia vegetation on moist ground with thick grass; stands of proteas (Protea) and heath along coast.

Movement

Sedentary.

Diet and Foraging

Insects. Forages on ground, usually alone, by walking or hopping among grass and shrubs. Less skulking than other members of genus; often quite tame.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Distinctive high-pitched song, from top of bush or rock or from forest middle stratum (not from within thicket), of short lively phrases of sibilant, lilting notes, repeated several times, “twiddy twee twit…twee twee twee weet…twiddy twee weet…”, gaining in speed, often ending with grating notes, “tsee weet tchii tchii tchii tchii tchii”. Call a loud “purr-r-r”; alarm a sharp “chip, chip”.

Breeding

Egg-laying in Sept–Nov. Monogamous; solitary, territorial. Nest built by both sexes, with material collected nearby, a deep bulky cup with roughly woven grass base, sides of dead leaves and bark, lined with finer grass and plant down, placed on or close to ground, usually well hidden in dense clump. Clutch 2–3 eggs; incubation period 21 days; young fed in nest by both parents, no information on duration of nestling period.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Cape Fynbos EBA. Patchily distributed within limited range on slopes of Cape fold mountains. Locally common, but ecological requirements poorly known. Requires monitoring.
Distribution of the Victorin's Warbler - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Victorin's Warbler

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Pearson, D. (2020). Victorin's Warbler (Cryptillas victorini), 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.viswar1.01
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