Yellow-bellied Eremomela
Encyclopedia
The Yellow-bellied Eremomela (Eremomela icteropygialis) is an Old World warbler
. However, the taxonomy of the "African warblers", an assemblage of usually species-poor and apparently rather ancient "odd warblers" from Africa is currently in a state of flux.
The Yellow-bellied Eremomela is a common breeding species in Africa
south of the Sahara
in its habitat of open woodland, savannah, and dry scrub.
and a blackish stripe through the eye. The grey breast shades into the lemon yellow belly. The bill is blackish. The subspecies vary in the extent and intensity of the yellow on the belly, and birds in western southern Africa a have whitish throat and breast.
The sexes are similar, but the juvenile has duller yellow underparts than the adult. The call is a high-pitched repeated tchee-tchee-tchuut.
This bird is usually seen alone, in pairs, or in family groups as it forages on the ground or in foliage for insect
s and other small invertebrate
s
The race salvadorii, from Zaire
, Gabon
, Angola
and Zambia
, is sometimes treated as a separate species, Eremomela salvadorii.
Old World warbler
The "Old World Warblers" is the name used to describe 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 cisticolas into...
. However, the taxonomy of the "African warblers", an assemblage of usually species-poor and apparently rather ancient "odd warblers" from Africa is currently in a state of flux.
The Yellow-bellied Eremomela is a common breeding species in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
south of the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
in its habitat of open woodland, savannah, and dry scrub.
Description
The Yellow-bellied Eremomela is a very small bird 10 cm long and weighing around 9 g. Its upperparts are grey, becoming darker and more olive on the wings and tail. There is a thin pale grey superciliumSupercilium
The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head. Also known as an "eyebrow", it is distinct from the eyestripe, which is a line which runs...
and a blackish stripe through the eye. The grey breast shades into the lemon yellow belly. The bill is blackish. The subspecies vary in the extent and intensity of the yellow on the belly, and birds in western southern Africa a have whitish throat and breast.
The sexes are similar, but the juvenile has duller yellow underparts than the adult. The call is a high-pitched repeated tchee-tchee-tchuut.
Behaviour
The Yellow-bellied Eremomela builds a cup nest in the branches of a tree or shrub, and lays two to four white eggs. This territorial species is monogamous, pairing for life.This bird is usually seen alone, in pairs, or in family groups as it forages on the ground or in foliage for insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and other small invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s
Conservation status
This common species has a large range, with an estimated extent of 7,100,000 km². The population size is believed to be large, and the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.The race salvadorii, from Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
, Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
and Zambia
Zambia
Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, is sometimes treated as a separate species, Eremomela salvadorii.
