3-6-2019 LINYANTI CAMP, BOTSWANA - GREEN BACKED CAMAROPTERA (Camaroptera brachyura)

The Green-backed Camaroptera (Camaroptera brachyura) is a small, insect-eating African bird known for its "bleating" alarm call, distinctive tail-cocking, and preference for dense thickets near water in savanna and woodland; it builds unique ball-shaped nests from leaves and spiderwebs, often parasitized by cuckoos, and is common but secretive, inhabiting undergrowth and forest edges across sub-Saharan Africa. 

Appearance: Small, rotund, wren-like, with olive-green wings, gray-white underparts, red eyes, and a short tail it frequently cocks.

Name Origin: Brachyura means "short-tailed" in Greek, though the tail is prominent with its movements.

Habitat: Prefers moist bush, riverine woodland, forest edges, and thickets, often near water, across much of Africa.

Diet: Primarily insects (caterpillars, beetles, ants), foraging low to the ground or in leaf litter.

Vocalization: Famous for its nasal "meehrrp" alarm (like a bleating lamb) and a strident "strik-strik-strik" song, sometimes with bill snapping.

Nesting: Builds a unique ball-shaped nest of leaves bound with spiderwebs, often low in shrubs, and both parents incubate and feed chicks.

Behavior: Forages alone or in pairs, gleaning insects and flushing prey, often mimicking tail-cocking of wrens.

Brood Parasitism: Frequently targeted by the African emerald cuckoo.

Variations: Sometimes split into "green-backed" (eastern) and "grey-backed" (rest of Africa) forms, though debated. 

2-6-2019 LINYANTI CAMP, BOTSWANA - GREEN BACKED CAMAROPTERA (Camaroptera brachyura)

The green-backed camaroptera (Camaroptera brachyura), also known as the bleating camaroptera, is a small bird in the family Cisticolidae. This bird is a resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Recent studies suggest this species and the grey-backed camaroptera may be the same species.

This skulking passerine is typically found low in dense cover. The green-backed camaroptera binds large leaves together low in a bush and builds a grass nest within the leaves. The normal clutch is two or three eggs.

These 11.5 cm long warblers have green upperparts. The wings are olive and the underparts whitish grey. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are paler yellow on the breast.

Like most members in the group, green-backed camaroptera is insectivorous.

The green-backed camaroptera was described by the French ornithologist Louis Pierre Vieillot in 1821 under the binomial name Sylvia brachyura. The type locality is the Cape of Good Hope. The specific epithet brachyura is from the Ancient Greek brakhus for "short" and -ouros for "-tailed".