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Namuli Apalis | Apalis lynesi
Namuli-apalis | Apalis de Namuli
The Namuli Apalis is a robust apalis with a grey head, black throat and breast and yellow underparts, which in the whole world occurs only in the montane forests of Mount Namuli in northern Mozambique. It was discovered in 1932, then not seen for 66 years and only rediscovered in 1998; within its minute range it is fairly common.
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Voice
Male and female sing a duet: the male a series of loud, repeated whistled notes, the female a different, faster answer that falls between the male's notes. Also short, sharp contact calls. The duet is the best way to locate the birds in the forest.
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Identification
11–12 cm, sturdily built for an apalis and with a medium-length tail. Crown and hindneck grey, the back, wings and tail olive-green; the outer tail feathers are white. Chin, throat and breast are black, forming a large black bib sharply set off against the bright yellow belly and flanks. The bill is black, the legs pink to pale brown. The sexes are nearly alike; the female has a slightly smaller or less extensive black bib. Juveniles are duller, with a greyish throat. It often feeds lower in the vegetation than other apalises and regularly comes to the ground.
Confusion species
No other apalis with a black throat and yellow belly occurs on Namuli. Black-Headed Apalis Apalis melanocephala of the lower slopes has a black head and back and white underparts. White-Winged Apalis Apalis chariessa has a white throat with a black breast band and a white wing stripe. Bar-Throated Apalis Apalis thoracica, from the same species group and known from Mulanje and other mountains in Malawi but not from Namuli, has a white throat with a narrow black band. Yellow-Breasted Apalis Apalis flavida of the lowlands around the mountain has a white throat and a yellow breast band. An apalis with a black bib above 1200 m on Namuli is this species.
Habitat
Montane forest, forest edges and small forest patches and thickets on the slopes and in the ravines of Mount Namuli, above about 1200 m. It appears to tolerate degraded and fragmented forest well. It forages in pairs or small groups in the lower and middle strata, sometimes on the ground, for insects and other small invertebrates, and also takes some seeds and berries.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of southern Africa.
Range and movements
Endemic to Mount Namuli in Zambézia Province in northern Mozambique; not known from any other mountain, including nearby Mabu and Chiperone. It does not occur outside the region.
How and when to look
Year-round. Namuli is remote: the usual route runs from Gurué up through the tea estates to the forest remnants around the plateaus at 1500–1900 m, and takes several days on foot with local guides. Once in the forest the species is not difficult: follow the duet along forest edges and in ravines, and watch for birds feeding low in undergrowth and bracken.
Conservation status
Endangered. The entire world range covers a few tens of square kilometres of forest on one mountain. The forest is threatened by cutting, expansion of fields (mainly potato growing) and fires spreading from the surrounding grasslands. Because the species survives in disturbed forest too, the population is stable for now, but every loss of forest counts.
Scientific name
Apalis lynesi | Vincent, 1933
Vincent described the species in 1933 and placed it straight away in the genus where it still stands. The genus Apalis was introduced in 1833 by Swainson. Apalis comes from the Greek hapalos, 'delicate, gentle' — for these slender, finely built little warblers. lynesi honours the British rear admiral and ornithologist Hubert Lynes (1874–1942), a cisticola specialist who visited Namuli. The specimen the first description was based on came from Mount Namuli, Mozambique.