Little Rush-warbler (Bradypterus baboecala) - BirdLife species factsheet

Little Rush-warbler Bradypterus baboecala

Current view: Data table and detailed info

Taxonomy

Taxonomic note
Subspecies chadensis previously included in Bradypterus centralis after the split from B. baboecala (del Hoyo and Collar 2016), but is now transferred to B. baboecala based on song (Dowsett-Lemaire unpubl. data per WGAC). The two species were previously lumped as B. baboecala following Dowsett and Forbes-Watson (1993) and Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993). Original note from Illustrated Checklists: See B. graueri. Until recently considered conspecific with B. centralis, but although evidence points strongly to their being separate species, allocation of subspecies and attribution of diagnostic characters still speculative and unsatisfactory; subspecies B. c. sudanensis may belong with present species. Seven subspecies recognized.

Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2022. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 7. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v7_Dec22.zip.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2022	Least Concern
2016	Not Recognised
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Species attributes

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	does not normally occur in forest
Land-mass type		Average mass	12 g

Range

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	13,327,000 km²	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

Population

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	unknown	-	-	-
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	2.7 years	-	-	-

Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified although it has a broad distribution and at least locally is common (Pearson et al. 2021). Consequently, its population is suspected to be moderately large.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be stable in the absence of evidence for any declines or substantial threats.

Country/territory distribution

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident
Angola	extant	native	yes
Botswana	extant	native	yes
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the	extant	native	yes
Eswatini	extant	native	yes
Ethiopia	extant	native	yes
Kenya	extant	native	yes
Malawi	extant	native	yes
Mozambique	extant	native	yes
Namibia	extant	native	yes
South Africa	extant	native	yes
Tanzania	extant	native	yes
Zambia	extant	native	yes
Zimbabwe	extant	native	yes

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitats & altitude

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Wetlands (inland)	Bogs, Marshes, Swamps, Fens, Peatlands	major	resident
Altitude	0 - 2300 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Little Rush-warbler Bradypterus baboecala. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/little-rush-warbler-bradypterus-baboecala on 26/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 26/11/2024.