Thamnornis Thamnornis chloropetoides Scientific name definitions

15 cm. Medium-sized warbler with greenish wings, fairly long graduated tail of twelve feathers, and quite long, strong and slightly decurved bill with fine tip. Head is greyish-brown with distinct whitish supercilium, darker stripe through eye; upperparts and upperwing-coverts light olive-brown, becoming olive-green on uppertail-coverts; remiges grey-brown, edged dull olive-green; tail dull olive-green, outermost feathers brighter green with greyish-white tips; throat and underparts whitish, washed grey-brown across breast; iris brown; bill dark horn above, pale orange below; legs light brown. Sexes alike. Juvenile apparently undescribed.

Dry SW Madagascar (S of Morondava, W of Fort Dauphin).

Spiny subdesert, coastal scrub, edge of deciduous forest; sea-level to 800 m.

Sedentary.

Insects, including caterpillars. Forages low down in dense vegetation, sometimes on ground, taking food from small branches, or from leaf litter. Usually in small groups outside breeding season; readily associates with other species.

Rattling trill, “geerrr”, like call of Nesillas typica (of nominate race) but quieter; song, often from prominent perch, a trill (as call) followed immediately by whistled “tewtewtewtewtewtew…”, lasting 10–30 seconds.

Breeds Nov–Dec. Nest a cup of dry leaves and pieces of bark, lined with fine leaf stalks, attached with spider web to small vertical branches close to ground in dense shrubbery. Clutch 3 eggs; no information on incubation and nestling periods.

Not globally threatened. Restricted-range species: present in West Malagasy Dry Forests EBA and South Malagasy Spiny Forests. Fairly common throughout range.