Alternative name: Red-tailed Leaflove
- Phyllastrephus scandens
Identification
22 cm (8¾ in)
- Grey head
- Greyish-olive back
- Rusty tail
- Yellow belly with cream white undertones
Sexes are similar.
Juvenile: also olive-grey with a rusty tone, the chin and the underparts are white, and the undertail is a pale rust.
Distribution
East central Africa
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 2 subspecies[1]:
- P. s. scandens:
- P. s. orientalis:
- Cameroon east to southern South Sudan, south to southern Congo, western and southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and extreme western Tanzania
Habitat
Gallery forests, thickets and forests around rivers, always near water.
Behaviour
Diet
Their main diet consists of arthropods, such as grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, small termites and also some berries.
Breeding
They construct a small cup-shaped nest suspended in twigs by cobwebs. The female incubates the eggs alone.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2018. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2018. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved February 2019)
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Leaf-love. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Leaf-love
