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Bangwa Warbler Bradypterus bangwaensis 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

14–15 cm. A brightly coloured Bradypterus warbler with well-graduated tail of twelve rather broad feathers. Has side of head dark brown, long pale buff supercilium; crown and upperparts, including upperwing, dark rufous-brown, tail dark russet; throat and central underparts whitish, contrasting with broad rufous-brown breastband and rufous-cinnamon flanks and undertail-coverts; iris brown; bill blackish-brown, paler lower mandible; legs brown. Sexes alike. Juvenile is duller than adult, with yellow-tinged underparts.

Systematics History

See B. barratti. Birds of Mt Oku may represent a distinct race. Form described as “Bradypterus mariae manengubae” (Mt Manengouba, Cameroon) was erroneously thought to be a variant form of present species (see B. lopezi). Original species name “B. castaneus” is preoccupied. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Highlands of SE Nigeria (Obudu Plateau, Mambilla Plateau, Gotel Mts) and W Cameroon (Mt Oku, Banso Mts, Bamenda Highlands, Bamboutos Plateau, Mt Manengouba, W Adamawa Highlands, Poli).

Habitat

Dense undergrowth of montane-forest edges and clearings; secondary growth and thickets under open-canopy forest; tall thick grass and rank herbage along streams; bracken (Pteridium) and bramble (Rubus) at high altitude. From 1600 m to 2300 m in Nigeria; 1900–2950 m in Cameroon.

Movement

Sedentary.

Diet and Foraging

Diet presumably small invertebrates. Forages near ground within thick cover, usually in pairs.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a rhythmic series of identical notes, increasing in volume, “piya-piya-piya-piya-piya-píyá-píyá” or “weriya-weriya-weriya-weriya-wéríyá-wéríyá”; female creates duet with high-pitched whistles. Alarm a rattling “krrrr”.

Breeding

Nests in Oct–Nov, occasionally Mar–Apr, in Cameroon. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Currently considered Near-threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Cameroon Mountains EBA. Range small and fragmented, and potentially at risk from forest clearance. Species is still common on Mambilla Plateau, in Nigeria; in Cameroon, remains common on Mt Manenguba but, as a result of loss of bush habitat, confined mainly above 2400 m on Mt Oku.
Distribution of the Bangwa Warbler - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Bangwa Warbler

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Pearson, D. (2020). Bangwa Warbler (Bradypterus bangwaensis), 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.banscw1.01
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