Grey-capped warbler facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grey-capped warbler
In East Africa
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Cisticolidae
Genus:	Eminia Hartlaub, 1881
Species:	E. lepida
Binomial name
Eminia lepida Hartlaub, 1881
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The grey-capped warbler (Eminia lepida) is a type of bird that belongs to the Cisticolidae family. It is the only species in its group, called Eminia.

You can find the grey-capped warbler in several countries in Africa. These include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.

This bird is quite large and chunky. It has a thin tail and a special grey cap on its head. It also has a black band around its head and a chestnut-colored throat. Grey-capped warblers mostly eat insects and other small creatures without backbones. This includes caterpillars, moths, grasshoppers, and mantids.

How to Identify a Grey-capped Warbler

The grey-capped warbler is about 15 centimeters (6 inches) long. It usually weighs between 16 and 24 grams. It looks chunky and has a thin tail. Its head has a clear grey cap. There is also a black band around its head. Its throat is chestnut-colored.

The feathers on its lower back are long and loose. Its cheeks, neck, and belly are grey. Its sides and the feathers under its tail have a hint of olive-green. The bird also has a chestnut patch near its rear and chestnut upperparts.

Its tail and the middle and larger feathers on its upper wings are olive-green. The smaller wing feathers and those under its wings are chestnut. The flight feathers are dark brown with olive-green edges. Its eyes are reddish-brown. The beak and mouth are black, and its legs are pinkish-brown.

Male and female grey-capped warblers look very similar. Younger birds are not as brightly colored as adults. They have a smaller, paler throat patch and brown eyes. Very young birds that have just left the nest have a bright yellow area at the corner of their mouth. They also have shorter tails.

Where Grey-capped Warblers Live

The grey-capped warbler's natural habitat is in warm, wet areas with lots of bushes. These are called subtropical or moist tropical shrubland.

They like to live in thick bushes, scrub, and climbing plants. You often find them in damp places. These include the edges of forests, wet spots, or areas along rivers and streams. They also live in gardens with many plants.

These birds only live in places where it rains more than 500 millimeters (20 inches) each year. In Kenya, they usually live at heights from 800 meters (2,600 feet) to 2,500 meters (8,200 feet). They are known as "sedentary" birds. This means they usually stay in one place and do not migrate far.

What Grey-capped Warblers Eat

The grey-capped warbler's diet includes many types of insects. They also eat other small creatures without backbones. These include caterpillars and moths. They also enjoy grasshoppers, mantids, spiders, and millipedes.

They find their food by picking it off leaves and tree bark. They actively search among dead, curled-up leaves. They also look in cracks in bark and holes in twigs. These birds are quite secretive. They hide among thick plants. This means you might not notice them unless they are singing.

Sometimes, many other birds that eat fruit and insects join them. These birds are attracted to areas with fruiting Euclea divinorum trees in Tanzania.

Sounds and Songs

Male grey-capped warblers often sing from an open spot. They mainly sing during the breeding season. Their song is loud and varied. It includes a series of trills and whistles. A song can last from 6 to 20 seconds. It usually has parts that are repeated. They sing about every 30 seconds.

The female bird makes a dry trill sound. It can have up to 7 notes per second. She usually sings this while the male is singing, creating a duet. The male also makes trilling calls. When he is worried, he makes a soft "pree" alarm call. If he is very upset, he makes louder scolding calls.

Reproduction

Grey-capped warblers breed when it rains. In Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, they breed from March to June and October to November. In Uganda, it's April to May. In Kenya, they breed from May to August and November to January. They try to have more than one group of chicks each year.

They are likely monogamous. This means a pair probably stays together all year. They live alone and protect their territory. When they sing together, the male and female sit close. They might hop around each other. Their throat feathers are raised, and their tail is fanned out and upright.

Both the male and female build the nest. The male sometimes calls while the female builds. Building a nest usually takes about two weeks. The nest is a messy, ball-shaped structure. It has an entrance on the side. It also has a porch that sticks out (up to 8 cm long) and a platform (2.5 cm).

They make the nest from long strips of plant material and leaves. These are woven together. The inside is lined with moss, spider webs, small roots, feathers, and plant fluff. The nest hangs from a thin branch or climbing plant. It is usually hidden inside thick plants. Sometimes it is slung between two young trees. It is usually 1 to 3 meters (3 to 10 feet) high. It is rarely as high as 5 meters (16 feet). Often, it is built over water. It looks like debris stuck in an overhanging branch.

Sometimes, they use the same nest again in later seasons. One time, a weaver bird's nest was used after the entrance was changed. Long, trailing plants were added to help hide it.

The female usually lays 2 or 3 eggs. She mainly incubates them for 12 to 13 days. Both parents feed the chicks. The male often passes food to the female, and then she feeds the nestlings. Both parents also remove the chicks' waste. They drop it far from the nest.

The chicks stay in the nest for 16 days. After they leave the nest, the adult birds stay with them. They call loudly if someone comes near. Breeding success is not very high. In Kenya, they average only about 0.27 groups of chicks per pair each year. This is even with many tries during a long breeding season. Some nests near streams are destroyed by floods.