Alternative names: Yellow-browed Oxylabes; Yellowbrowed Tetraka
- Crossleyia xanthophrys
Identification
With 15cm either a small Babbler or a rather large Warbler of Madagascar1:
- Crown greenish olive-brown
- Long, broad yellow supercilium
- Broad, blackish-olive eye-stripe
- dull dark olive-brown upperparts
- Throat pale yellow
- Breast side, flanks and undertail-coverts olive-brown
- Short bill
Distribution
Endemic to eastern Madagascar where it is common at least in parts of its range.
Taxonomy
Monotypic.2
Formerly placed in the genus Oxylabes. Kept by Clements in the Timaliidae in the past, other authorities place it with the Greenbuls in the family Pycnonotidae (Bulbuls). Recent work proposes that this species belongs to the Sylviidae and is an Old World Warbler.1 Due to the split up of the Sylviidae it is now placed in the family Bernieridae.
Habitat
Rainforest, found in on the ground and in dense understorey.1
Behaviour
Feeds on small insects. Forages on the ground, probing in leaf litter.
Usually seen in pairs or family groups of up to 5 birds, sometimes together with White-throated Oxylabes and Dark Newtonia.
Breeding season from September to December. The nest is a deep cup made of grasses and bamboo leaves, placed in leaf litter or in liana tangle. Lays 3 eggs.
Resident, no movements known.1
References
- del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Christie, D.A. eds. 2007. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Vol. 12. Picathartes to Tits and Chickadees. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 84-96553-42-6
- Clements James F. 2007. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to October 2007. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9780801445019
