Green-Backed Camaroptera
Camaroptera brachyura
Also known as: Bleating Camaroptera, Bleating Warbler, Grey-Backed Camaroptera
Habitat
Ground
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
10 g
About This Species
A skulking warbler of dense scrub and thicket across sub-Saharan Africa, more often heard than seen as it forages low in tangled vegetation for insects. Its scratchy, rattling call is distinctive and is usually the first clue to its presence in a patch of thick cover. Patient, quiet waiting near dense scrub, rather than active searching, is the most effective way to get a look at this species.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Standing still near a calling bird and letting it move into view works far better than pushing into the thicket after it, which mainly causes it to retreat deeper into cover.
- General wildlife protections apply across its range, but rules and enforcement vary by country, so treat any approach to dense nesting cover with caution during the breeding season.
- Minimal disturbance to the scrub itself, not just to the bird, helps keep the habitat intact for repeat viewing.
LCAvesPasseriformesCisticolidae
Seasonal Activity
187,814 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cisticolidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 10 g
Photo
(c) Paul Cools, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Paul Cools
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.