Wedge-tailed Jery

About the Wedge-tailed Jery

The wedge-tailed jery (Hartertula flavoviridis) is a small bird endemic to the east of Madagascar. The species has been the cause of some taxonomic confusion, it was originally placed with the jeries in the genus Neomixis (Cisticolidae) before being placed in its own monotypic genus Hartertula, but still considered close to Neomixis. Recent research indicates it is part of an endemic Malagasy radiation currently known as the Malagasy warblers (Cibois et al. 2001).

The wedge-tailed jery is a small, slender warbler-like bird between 12–13 cm long and weighing around 10 g. The plumage is bright yellow before and olive on the crown, wing and back. The eye has a pale white ring and is crossed with a pale supercilium. There is no sexual dimorphism in the plumage of adults, and juvenile birds have similar plumage as well.

The call, sung repetitively during foraging, is a nasal tsee zeezeezeezeezeezee. In the rainforest they forage in the low understory, gleaning insects from the undersides of leaves and branches, often hanging upside down to do so. They are also accomplished at extracting insects from clumps of leaves and spider web at the ends... Wikipedia →