The white-eared tailorbird (''Orthotomus cinereiceps'') is a species of bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, it but now placed in the family Cisticolidae.It is found in the Philippine islands of

Basilan Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Reg ...

and West

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

Description

EBird eBird is an online database of bird observations providing scientists, researchers and amateur naturalists with real-time data about bird distribution and abundance. Originally restricted to sightings from the Western Hemisphere, the project ...

describes the bird as "A small, long-billed, long-tailed bird of dense undergrowth in lowland and foothill forest in western Mindanao and Basilan. Olive-green on the back and wings, with an olive-brown tail often held cocked, a pale gray belly, a black hood and chest, and a white ear-spot. Female has a white throat patch. Similar to Rufous-fronted Tailorbird, especially from behind, but has a black hood and white ear-spot. Voice includes monotonous piping notes given in series, a short phrase “pu piiiiiiiii pit,” and a rapid whistled or nasal trill."

Subspecies

Two subspecies are recognized: * ''Orthotomus cinereiceps cinereiceps:'' Found on

Basilan Island Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Re ...

* ''Orthotomus cinereiceps obscurior:'' Found in

Zamboanga Peninsula Zamboanga Peninsula ( tl, Tangway ng Zamboanga; cbk, Peninsula de Zamboanga; ceb, Lawis sa Zamboanga) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region IX. It consists of three provinces (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibu ...

. Cotabato. Misamis Oriental,

Habitat and conservation status

It is found in dense tangles in primary and secondary forest and forest clearings up to 1,000 meters above sea level . IUCN has assessed this bird as a

Least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

due to its tolerance to degraded habitat.

References

white-eared tailorbird Birds of Mindanao Fauna of Basilan Endemic birds of the Philippines white-eared tailorbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cisticolidae-stub