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Cinnamon Bracken Warbler | Bradypterus cinnamomeus
Kaneelstruikzanger | Zarzalero Canela
The Cinnamon Bracken Warbler is a warm cinnamon-brown warbler of bracken, brambles and rank growth at the edges of montane forest, occurring in the region only in the highlands of Malawi and north-eastern Zambia. It is secretive, but sings loudly and sometimes shows itself briefly on top of a bracken frond.
Voice
The song is a loud series of a few clear, slightly plaintive whistles followed by a fast, dry rattle, too-too-too-chrrrrr; pairs often duet, the partner joining in with a rattling sound. Call a dry tchek and a rattling alarm.
Recording: Guilherme Melo — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
14–15 cm, with short, rounded wings and a fairly long, broad, rounded tail. Upperparts warm rufous-brown to cinnamon-brown, the tail more rufous. A clear pale buff supercilium contrasts with a dark eye-stripe. The throat and centre of the belly are white, the breast sides and flanks warm cinnamon to orange-brown, unstreaked. Bill dark, legs pinkish-brown. The sexes are alike; juveniles are more olive with a yellowish wash below. It moves low through dense vegetation and often flicks its tail.
Confusion species
Evergreen Forest Warbler Bradypterus lopezi is darker and greyer below, with barely any supercilium, and lives on the floor of the forest interior; its song is a rhythmically repeated whistle. Little Rush Warbler Bradypterus baboecala is duller brown, with fine spots on the breast, and lives in reeds and wet rank growth. Fan-Tailed Grassbird Catriscus brevirostris has a much longer, black tail and lives in tall wet grass. Look for the warm cinnamon colour, the pale supercilium, the forest-edge habitat and the song.
Habitat
Bracken, brambles, tall grass and dense scrub at the edges and in clearings of Afromontane forest, in forest patches and rank growth along mountain streams, mostly above 1,500 m. It forages low in the vegetation and on the ground for insects.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of southern Africa.
Range and movements
Within the region confined to the highlands of Malawi, mainly in the north on the Nyika Plateau, the Misuku Hills and the Viphya, and north-eastern Zambia on the Nyika and in the Mafinga Mountains. Beyond the region in the mountains of East and Central Africa, from Ethiopia and South Sudan through Uganda, eastern Congo and Kenya to Tanzania.
- Resident
- Summer visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
Best on the Nyika Plateau, in the bracken along the edges of Chowo Forest and the forest patches near Chelinda. Listen in the early morning for the whistles with the closing rattle and then scan the tops of the bracken; the bird often comes up briefly to sing.
Conservation status
Not threatened and locally common in suitable rank growth at forest edges. In the region it is confined to a few mountain areas, where its habitat suffers from fire and clearance; a large part, however, lies in national parks such as Nyika.
Scientific name
Bradypterus cinnamomeus | (Rüppell, 1840)
Rüppell described the species in 1840 as Sylvia? (Salicaria) cinnamomea; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Bradypterus was introduced in 1837 by Swainson. Bradypterus comes from the Greek bradus, 'slow', and -pteros, '-winged' — for the short, rounded wings and weak flight. cinnamomeus is Latin for 'cinnamon-coloured', for the warm rufous-brown plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from Simien, Ethiopia.