Winifred's warbler (''Scepomycter winifredae''), also known as Mrs. Moreau's warbler, is a species of

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

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 originated ...

. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Scepomycter''. It was first recorded and named by the ornithologist Reginald Moreau after his wife, Winifred Muriel Moreau née Bradberry.

Taxonomy

Winifred's warbler was formally described in 1938 by English civil servant and ornithologist Reginald Moreau based on a juvenile specimen collected in the Kinole forest in eastern Tanzania. He placed the species in the genus '' Artisornis'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Artisornis winifredae''. He chose the specific epithet to honour his wife Winifred Muriel Moreau (1891-1981). Moreau later described an adult specimen. Winifred's warbler has sometimes been placed in the genus '' Bathmocercus'', but is now the only species placed in the genus ''Scepomycter'' that was introduced in 1941 by the ornithologists Claude Grant and

Cyril Mackworth-Praed Cyril Winthrop Mackworth-Praed (21 September 1891 – 30 June 1974) was a British sport shooter who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics. He was also a naturalist and ornithologist who specialized on the birds of Africa. Life and work Mackwor ...

. The genus name combines

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

σκεπας/''skepas'', σκεπαος/''skepaos'' meaning "covering" or "shelter" with μυκτηρ/''muktēr'', μυκτηρος/''muktēros'' meaning "nostril". Two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised: * ''S. w. winifredae'' ( Moreau, 1938) – Uluguru Mountains of east Tanzania * ''S. w. rubehoensis'' Bowie & Fjeldså & Kiure, 2009 – Rubeho-Ukaguru Mountains of Tanzania The subspecies ''S. w. rubehoensis'' has sometimes been considered as a separate species, the Rubeho warbler.

Description

The bird is mostly olive green above with the forehead and crown being rufous brown as are the sides of the head and chest. The chin is whitish. Winifred's warbler is listed as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as that may be vulnerable to Endangered species, endangerment in the ne ...

, due to

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

References

Winifred's warbler Endemic birds of Tanzania Winifred's warbler Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Cisticolidae-stub