Long-billed Tailorbird

About the Long-billed Tailorbird

The long-billed forest warbler (Artisornis moreaui), also known as the long-billed tailorbird, is a songbird of the family Cisticolidae, formerly part of the "Old World warbler" assemblage. It is found in Tanzania and Mozambique. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests. It is threatened by habitat destruction.

The long-billed forest warbler was formally described in 1931 by the British zoologist William Lutley Sclater from specimens collected by Reginald Ernest Moreau in forest near Amani in the Usambara Mountains of eastern Tanzania. Sclater coined the binomial name Apalis moreaui with the specific epithet chosen to honour the collector. This warbler is now placed with the red-capped forest warbler in the genus Artisornis that was introduced in 1928 by the American ornithologist Herbert Friedmann.

Two subspecies are recognised: A. m. moreaui (Sclater, WL, 1931) – northeast Tanzania A. m. sousae (Benson, 1945) – northwest Mozambique Some taxonomists treat A. m. sousae as a separate species, the Mozambique forest warbler. The long-billed forest warbler is a small, plump, inconspicuous warbler, growing to a length of about... Wikipedia →