The red-capped forest warbler, also known as the African tailorbird, is a songbird of the family Cisticolidae, formerly part of the "Old World warbler" assemblage. It is found in Mozambique and Tanzania. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests from 1600 to 2500 m.
Region
Eastern Arc Mountains
Typical Environment
Occurs in montane forests of eastern Tanzania and northern Mozambique, especially within the Eastern Arc and adjacent highlands. It favors dense understory, vine tangles, bamboo brakes, and damp ravines inside evergreen forest. The species uses both primary and well-regenerated secondary forest but avoids open areas and large plantations. Foraging is mostly from ground level to the midstory, where it gleans among leaves and thin branches.
Altitude Range
1600–2500 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
Also called the African tailorbird, this shy warbler lives in cool, mossy montane forests and keeps to dense undergrowth. Pairs often duet with high, thin notes that carry through the forest. Like other tailorbirds, it can stitch leaves together with plant fibers and spider silk to form a cradle-like nest.
Temperament
secretive and skulking
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats through low vegetation
Social Behavior
Usually found in pairs or small family groups within dense understory. Likely monogamous, maintaining territories year-round. Nests are placed low in thick cover; pairs fashion purse-like nests by binding or stitching leaves with fibers and spider silk.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
A high, thin series of trills and whistles, often delivered as a fast, repeated phrase. Pairs may duet, with one bird answering the other in tightly timed sequences that carry through the understory.
Plumage
Compact warbler with olive-brown upperparts, a distinct rufous-red crown, and paler grayish to buff underparts with a whitish throat. The tail is relatively long and often held cocked; plumage is plain but with fine, clean contrasts between the cap and face.
Diet
Feeds primarily on small arthropods such as beetles, caterpillars, spiders, and other soft-bodied insects. It gleans from the undersides of leaves and probes into rolled foliage and vine tangles. Occasional small invertebrates are taken from mossy trunks and dead leaf clusters.
Preferred Environment
Forages in dense understory, bamboo thickets, and along shaded forest edges and ravines. It keeps close to cover, moving methodically through low shrubs and saplings.
