Explore Taxonomy
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Phylloscopidae
Genus
Phylloscopus
Surprise Me
Previous Laura's Woodland-Warbler
Next Uganda Woodland-Warbler
- Black-capped Woodland-Warbler
© Dubi Shapiro
- Black-capped Woodland-Warbler
- Black-capped Woodland-Warbler
- Black-capped Woodland-Warbler
- Black-capped Woodland-Warbler
Listen

Black-capped Woodland-Warbler Phylloscopus herberti Scientific name definitions

Peter Clement
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2006

Sign in to see your badges

Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

9–10 cm; 9 g. A small leaf-warbler with bold head pattern, short wings and tail. Nominate race has crown to nape black or blackish-brown, long and broad buff super­cilium extending back to side of nape, blackish-brown lores and broad eyestripe to rear of pale grey ear-coverts; upperparts golden-green; flight-feathers and tail feathers blackish, broadly edged bright green; chin and throat buffish to white, breast dull grey or tinted buffish, rest of underparts greyish-white, underwing-coverts white or tinged yellowish; iris dark brown; upper mandible blackish, lower mandible yellow; legs brown to grey-brown. Distinguished from P. budongoensis by darker crown and nape, brighter green upperparts, duller supercilium and blackish eyestripe. Sexes alike. Juvenile is as adult, but upperparts duller, underparts whiter, belly and undertail-coverts tinged with yellow. Race camerunensis is slightly smaller than nominate, and has brighter green upperparts, paler buff supercilium, cheeks and chin to throat.

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.

See P. umbrovirens. Racial identity of population in mainland Equatorial Guinea uncertain; tentatively included in nominate race. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Phylloscopus herberti camerunensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

highlands of SE Nigeria (Obudu and Mambilla Plateaux) and W Cameroon.
SUBSPECIES

Phylloscopus herberti herberti Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Bioko and, perhaps this race, mainland Equatorial Guinea (Mt Alen).

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Wet montane or submontane primary forest and secondary forest between 900 m and 2200 m; occasionally down to 700 m on Mt Cameroon. Nominate race occurs in moss forest at 1100–1800 m on Bioko.

Movement

Resident, but altitudinal movements evident. On Mt Kupé, in Cameroon, mist-netted at 900 m in May and June but much lower at end of Mar. Once recorded down to 50 m in lowland forest on Bioko.

Diet and Foraging

Diet largely unknown; presumably, mostly small insects. Forages alone, in pairs or in small parties; often in mixed-species flocks with sunbirds (Nectariniidae). Forages at all levels in trees and shrubs, frequently in open canopy, but also in liana and creeper tangles at forest edges.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Call a sibilant “see-err”; more prolonged “see-err-err” as alarm. Song, usually from open perch, a short and varied sequence c. 2 seconds long, of high-pitched, warbling or ringing notes, e.g. “chicherchirricherchewee”, concluding with upslurred or downslurred flourish, repeated after several seconds; like song of P. budongoensis but lower-pitched and faster in delivery, with notes run together.

Breeding

Largely unknown. Birds in breeding condition in Dec–Feb in Nigeria and Nov–Dec in Cameroon.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Restricted-range species: present in Cameroon Mountains EBA. Common or locally common within its small range. Occurs in Mount Kupé National Park, in Cameroon.
Distribution of the Black-capped Woodland-Warbler - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Black-capped Woodland-Warbler

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Clement, P. (2020). Black-capped Woodland-Warbler (Phylloscopus herberti), 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.bcwwar1.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.

American Ornithological Society American Ornithilogical Society Armonia Bolivia Aves Argentinas Avibase Aves Uruguay Birds Caribbean Bird Count India Conservación de Islas Corbidi Fundación Ñankulafkén Instituto Humboldt Lynx Edicions Oikonos Oriental Bird Club Ornithological Society Of The Middle East The Caucasus And Central Asia RED DE OBSERVADORES DE AVES Y VIDA SILVESTRE DE CHILE Roberts Birds Save Brasil Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute Union Venezolana De Ornitologos