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Grey-Olive Greenbul | Phyllastrephus cerviniventris
Grijze loofbuulbuul | Bulbul Verdioliva
The Grey-Olive Greenbul is an inconspicuous greyish-olive bulbul of dense riverine forest and ravine thickets in the north-east of the region. It lives in small groups low in the undergrowth and is the northern counterpart of the Terrestrial Brownbul.
Voice
A nasal, repeated kwee-kwee-kwee and a grating chattering chrr-chrr-chrr, often by a whole group at once. The song is a short, irregular series of chattering and whistled notes.
Recording: David C. Moyer — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
16–18 cm. The head is grey to olive-grey, with vague pale lores and eye-ring. The upperparts are olive-brown, the rump and tail warmer rufous-brown. The throat is off-white to pale grey, the breast greyish; the flanks, belly and undertail-coverts are pale buff to fawn, which gave the species its scientific name. The bill is dark with a paler lower mandible, the eyes brown, the legs pinkish to grey-brown. The sexes are alike; juveniles are more rufous above.
Confusion species
Terrestrial Brownbul Phyllastrephus terrestris is larger, darker brown and has a sharply defined white throat; where both occur it keeps more to the ground. Cabanis's Greenbul Phyllastrephus cabanisi is greener above and yellower below, and lives mainly in montane and evergreen forest. Sombre Greenbul Andropadus importunus is olive-green with a pale eye. Song and calls, the habitat of dense riverside thicket and the range help more than the dull plumage.
Habitat
Dense riverine forest, wooded ravines, evergreen thicket along streams and the edges of mid-altitude forest, roughly between 500 and 1800 m. It forages in pairs or small groups in the lower and middle strata, taking insects among leaves and on branches and sometimes coming to the ground; it joins mixed foraging flocks.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of southern Africa.
Range and movements
In Zambia in the east and north-east, especially the Luangwa Valley, along the Muchinga Escarpment and around Mbala. In Malawi scattered in riverine forest and thicket in the north and centre. In Mozambique scarce in the north-west. Old reports from Zimbabwe are unconfirmed. Beyond the region in Tanzania and southern and western Kenya.
- Resident
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
All year. In the Luangwa Valley the species occurs in the dense growth along tributaries; listen for the nasal chatter and wait for the group to emerge from the thicket. Note the combination of greyish head, pale throat without a sharp border and fawn belly.
Conservation status
Not threatened. Locally fairly common in suitable riverine forest, but dependent on dense vegetation along water, which is declining through clearing, fire and grazing.
Scientific name
Phyllastrephus cerviniventris | Shelley, 1894
Shelley described the species in 1894 as Phyllostrophus cerviniventris; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Phyllastrephus was introduced in 1832 by Swainson. Phyllastrephus comes from the Greek phullon, 'leaf', and a form of strephō, 'to turn' — 'leaf-turner', for the way these birds search foliage for insects. cerviniventris is Latin for 'fawn-bellied', from cervinus, 'deer-coloured', and venter, 'belly' — for the warm buffy-brown underparts. The specimen the first description was based on came from Zomba and Chiromo, Malawi.