The red-capped forest warbler (''Artisornis metopias''), also known as the African tailorbird, is a songbird of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Cisticolidae, formerly part of 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 ...

" assemblage. It is found in

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

is subtropical or tropical moist

montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

s from 1600 to 2500 m.

Taxonomy

The red-capped forest warbler was formally described in 1907 by the German ornithologist

Anton Reichenow Anton Reichenow (1 August 1847 in Charlottenburg – 6 July 1941 in Hamburg) was a German ornithologist and herpetologist. Reichenow was the son-in-law of Jean Cabanis, and worked at the Natural History Museum of Berlin from 1874 to 1921. He wa ...

from a specimen collected in the Usambara Mountains of Tanzania. Reichenow coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Prinia metopias''. The specific epithet is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''metōpias'' meaning "having a high forehead". This warbler is now placed with the

long-billed forest warbler The long-billed forest warbler (''Artisornis moreaui''), also known as the long-billed tailorbird, is a songbird of the family Cisticolidae, formerly part of the "Old World warbler" assemblage. It is found in Tanzania and Mozambique. Its natural ...

in the genus ''

Artisornis ''Artisornis'' is a genus of birds in the family Cisticolidae. It contains the following species: * Red-capped forest warbler, ''Artisornis metopias'' * Long-billed forest warbler, ''Artisornis moreaui'' Taxonomy The genus ''Artisornis'' was i ...

'' that was introduced in 1928 by the American ornithologist Herbert Friedmann. Two

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised: * ''A. m. metopias'' (Reichenow, 1907) – northeast Tanzania to northwest Mozambique * ''A. m. altus'' (

Friedmann Friedman, Friedmann, and Freedman are surnames of German origin, and from the 17th century were also adopted by Ashkenazi Jews. It is the 9th most common surname in Israel (8th among Jews) and most common exclusively Ashkenazi name. They may refer ...

, 1927) –

Uluguru Mountains The Uluguru mountains are a mountain range in eastern Tanzania, named after the Luguru tribe. The main portion of the Uluguru mountains is a ridge running roughly north-south and rising to altitude at its highest point. On the main Uluguru rang ...

(east Tanzania)

Description

The red-capped forest warbler is olive-brown above with a whitish color from the center of the throat to the vent, and with flanks that are washed grey. The crown is a rich chestnut brown, as well as the ear-coverts and the sides of the neck. Immature individuals have a pale yellow wash on their undersides. The average adult is 10 cm long and has a mass of approximately 8.4 g.

References

red-capped forest warbler Birds of East Africa red-capped forest warbler Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cisticolidae-stub