Appert's tetraka formerly known as Appert's greenbul (''Xanthomixis apperti'') is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the south-west of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. The species was only described in 1972, and has been the subject of considerable taxonomic confusion. It was initially placed in the

greenbul The greenbuls are a group of birds within the bulbul family Pycnonotidae, found only within Africa. They are all largely drab olive-green above, and paler below, with few distinguishing features. The "aberrant greenbuls" of the genera '' Bernier ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Phyllastrephus'', and later with the

Old World warbler Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the ci ...

s in the genus '' Bernieria''. Recent research indicates it is part of an endemic Malagasy radiation currently known as the Malagasy warblers (Cibois ''et al.'' 2001). The Appert's tetraka is around long with a pink bill and grey legs. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

of the sexes is similar; the back, tail and wings are green (the wings being a darker shade), the head grey and the throat white. The flanks and belly are washed orange and the undersides are white. The species is highly terrestrial, feeding in undisturbed forest in shrubs near the ground and on the ground. Family groups of up to 8 birds, sometimes in association with other species, forage on insects

gleaned Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legall ...

from under leaves and branches. The Appert's tetraka is currently restricted to two known locations in south-west Madagascar. One is the dry

deciduous forest In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

Zombitse-Vohibasia National Park ''Zombitse-Vohibasia'' is a national park in the Atsimo-Andrefana region of south-west Madagascar. It is north-east of the town of Toliara, the site of the nearest airport, and the Welcome Office is at Sakaraha from the park entrance. The park c ...

(where the species was first discovered) and a second population in montane evergreen forest at

Analavelona Classified Forest Analavelona, also known as Analavelona Massif, is a mountain in southwestern Madagascar. The massif is home to an enclave of montane subhumid forest, which is considered a sacred forest by the local people and notable for its biodiversity. Geogra ...

. The species is considered vulnerable due to its restricted range, particularly to habitat loss due to forest clearance. At present the Zombitse-Vohibasia forest is the subject of conservation projects that have stopped deforestation, and the Analavelona Classified Forest, while not protected, is remote and not under immediate threat. The common name and scientific name commemorate the Reverend

Otto Appert Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...

, a Swiss missionary in Madagascar who was also an amateur naturalist.

References

;Notes *Cibois, Alice; Slikas, Beth; Schulenberg, Thomas S. & Pasquet, Eric (2001): An endemic radiation of Malagasy songbirds is revealed by mitochondrial DNA sequence data. ''

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

'' 55(6): 1198–1206. PDF fulltext
*

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

(2006
Species factsheet: ''Bernieria apperti''.
Downloaded from https://www.webcitation.org/5QE8rvIqH?url=http://www.birdlife.org/ on 12/5/2007 {{Taxonbar, from=Q1923422 Malagasy warblers

Appert's tetraka Appert's tetraka formerly known as Appert's greenbul (''Xanthomixis apperti'') is a small passerine bird endemic to the south-west of Madagascar. The species was only described in 1972, and has been the subject of considerable taxonomic confusion ...