The oriole warbler (''Hypergerus atriceps'') is a large warbler in the family

Cisticolidae The family Cisticolidae is a group of about 160 warblers, small passerine birds found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They were formerly included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae. This family probably originate ...

, and the only member of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Hypergerus''. This

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

is a resident breeder in west

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

from southern

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. This skulking

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 th ...

is typically found in dense thickets usually near water. The oriole warbler builds a large untidy

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

suspended from

palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...

leaves. These 20-cm long warblers have a long tail, strong legs and a long black

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

. At a weight of around the oriole warbler may be the largest of the species-rich

family. Adults are light olive above, yellow below and have a black hood. The species' name refers to their resemblance to the unrelated but similarly black and yellow

orioles Oriole or Orioles may refer to: Animals * Old World oriole, colorful passerine birds in the family Oriolidae * New World oriole, a group of birds in the family Icteridae Music * The Orioles, an R&B and doo-wop group of the late 1940s and earl ...

. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller. Like most warblers, the oriole warbler is insectivorous. The

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

is a loud whistled duetted ''toooo-ooo-eee-oooo, oooo-ooo-eee-oooo''. The male always leads the duet and the female answers, though this is done in a manner that is temporally rather loose.Brumm, Henrik and Slater, Peter; “Animal Communication: Timing Counts” in ''

Current Biology ''Current Biology'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers all areas of biology, especially molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, neurobiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The journal includes research articles, ...

'' Volume 17, Issue 13, 3 July 2007, pp. R521–R523

References

* ''Birds of The Gambia'' by Barlow, Wacher and Disley, *Ryan, Peter (2006). Family Cisticolidae (Cisticolas and allies). pp. 378–492 in del Hoyo J., Elliott A. & Christie D.A. (2006) '' Handbook of the Birds of the World''. Volume 11. ''Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers'' Lynx Edicions, Barcelona * Nguembock B.; Fjeldsa J.; Tillier A.; Pasquet E. (2007): A phylogeny for the Cisticolidae (Aves: Passeriformes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data, and a re-interpretation of a unique nest-building specialization. ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution'' 42: 272–286. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2668006 oriole warbler Birds of West Africa oriole warbler Taxa named by René Lesson