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- Rwenzori Hill Babbler
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Rwenzori Hill Babbler Sylvia atriceps Scientific name definitions

Nigel Collar and Craig Robson
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2007

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

14 cm; 17–23 g. Has crown to nape, head side and chin sooty-grey, cutting sharply to rich rufous-brown on rest of upperparts and upperwing; tail dark grey-brown with rufous-brown fringes; sooty colour of hood shades to mid-grey on neck side and throat, breast and flanks, with pale grey belly and ochrous-brown lower flanks and thighs; iris brown; upper mandible blackish-brown and lower mandible paler, or upper black and lower blue-grey; legs grey to blue-grey. Distinguished from very similar S. abyssinica by having crown, head side and chin black, throat to breast and flanks darker grey, and upperparts brighter rufous. Sexes similar. Juvenile apparently undescribed.

Systematics History

Along with S. abyssinica previously separated as Pseudoalcippe in Timaliidae, but genetic data (1) place both species in present genus. Often treated as conspecific with S. abyssinica, and strongly similar in voice, but circumstances suggest otherwise: (a) presence in Nigeria and Cameroon, close to W populations of latter, implies that the two are distinct; (b) lack of subspeciation between highly disjunct W and C African populations appears particularly strange when united with polytypic S. abyssinica; (c) differs from latter in its black vs grey head (3); chestnut vs rufous-tinged olive-brown upperparts (2); blackish vs pale grey underparts (2). Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

SE Nigeria, W & C Cameroon (but not Mt Cameroon), NE DRCongo, SW Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

Habitat

Shrubbery and bamboo in montane forest, particularly in more open areas such as glades and clearings, dense secondary growth; also pine (Pinus) and eucalypt (Eucalyptus) plantations. At 1220–2900 m (commonest at highest altitudes) in Cameroon; 1525–2750 m in DRCongo; 1525–2750 m (less common above 2300 m) in Uganda.

Movement

Resident.

Diet and Foraging

Insects, including bark beetles (Scolytidae) and ants (Formicidae), also caterpillars and other insect larvae; also berries and seeds. Found singly, in pairs or in parties of 4–5 individuals, foraging in undergrowth up to 2 m above ground, occasionally moving up into foliage of canopy.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song, by both sexes and apparently all year, a rich warbling, very similar or identical to that of S. abyssinica, but sexes not known to duet. Also, a low, guttural chatter and a distinctive two-syllabled call; contact call of low twittering notes.

Breeding

Season Mar in Nigeria, Feb–May and Sept in Cameroon; Jan–Aug and Nov (and probably all year) in DRCongo, around Dec in Rwanda and at least May in Uganda. Nest described as a strong neat, regular cup, made mainly of plant stems with roots and gossamer or moss and leaves, lined with fine grass tops or very fine plant threads, slung between two upright shoots 1–1·2 m up in undergrowth. Clutch 2 eggs, cream, thickly speckled and spotted with pale reddish-brown and with lilac undermarkings. No further information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not assessed. Common in extreme SE Nigeria; in Cameroon, widespread and common (commonest at higher elevations) in Bamenda Highlands, including Mt Oku and Bafut-Ngemba Forest Reserve, although many areas of forest are under threat from clearance. Common and widespread on both sides of Albertine Rift, and present in e.g. Kibale Forest and Bwindi-Impenetrable Forest National Parks, in Uganda; in latter, estimated density 39·5 individuals/km².
Distribution of the African Hill Babbler (Rwenzori) - Range Map
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Distribution of the African Hill Babbler (Rwenzori)

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. and C. Robson (2020). Rwenzori Hill Babbler (Sylvia atriceps), 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.afhbab3.01
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