About Spiloptila clamans (Cretzschmar, 1826)
Spiloptila clamans, the cricket warbler, is a small 9-10 cm long perky warbler. It has a long graduated tail of twelve feathers, which get longer from the outside to the centre; each tail feather is grey with black and white tips. Its upperparts are pale buffy rufous, with black streaks on the crown, black tips to the primaries and upper wing coverts. It also has a pale yellow rump, a white supercilium, and whitish cream underparts. Males have a greyer tint across the nape. This species occurs in the Sahel Zone from southern Mauritania and northern Senegal east to South Sudan and northern Eritrea. It has recently been found breeding in the Western Sahara at Oued Jenna near Aousserd. It breeds in thorn scrub, especially acacia scrub, and can extend into true desert as long as sufficient vegetation is present, as well as into savanna with broad-leafed trees. It avoids grassy plains and dense bush.
