The red-tailed leaflove (''Phyllastrephus scandens'') is a species of

leaflove Leaflove may refer to: * Red-tailed leaflove, also known as African leaflove, common leaflove, leaflove and plain leaflove, a species of bird found in western and central Africa ** Uela leaflove and Gabon leaflove, subspecies * Simple leaflove, a ...

in the

bulbul The bulbuls are members of a family, Pycnonotidae, of medium-sized passerine songbirds, which also includes greenbuls, brownbuls, leafloves, and bristlebills. The family is distributed across most of Africa and into the Middle East, tropical As ...

family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in western and central Africa.

Taxonomy and systematics

Although originally described in the genus ''Phyllastrephus'', the red-tailed leaflove was briefly transferred to the former genus ''Pyrrhurus'' (now subsumed into ''Phyllastrephus'') during the period 2009-2010 by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. Some other authorities continue to classify the red-tailed leaflove in the genus ''Pyrrhurus''. Alternate names for the red-tailed leaflove include the African leaflove, common leaflove, leaflove and plain leaflove.

Subspecies

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 recognized: * Uele leaflove (''P. s. scandens'') - Swainson, 1837: Found from Gambia and Senegal to northern Cameroon * Gabon leaflove (''P. s. orientalis'') - ( Hartlaub, 1883): Originally described as a separate species in the genus ''

Xenocichla The bristlebills are a genus ''Bleda'' of passerine birds in the bulbul family Pycnonotidae. They are found in the forest understorey of western and central Africa. They forage for insects at or near ground-level, often near water. They will foll ...

'' (a synonym for ''Bleda''). Found from northern Cameroon to southern Sudan, central Uganda, western Tanzania and southern Democratic Republic of the Congo

Distribution and habitat

The red-tailed leaflove is found across western and central Africa. 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 ...

s are

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

moist lowland

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s and moist

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

References

External links

Image at ADW
Phyllastrephus red-tailed leaflove Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa red-tailed leaflove Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN {{Pycnonotidae-stub