Cape Verde warbler
{{Short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Cape Verde warbler
| image = Cape Verde - 1992 1000CVE note - front.jpg
| image_caption = The Cape Verde warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis) was featured in a 1000 CVE note circulated from 1992 to 2005
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Acrocephalus (bird)
| species = brevipennis
| authority = (Keulemans, 1866)
| synonyms =
| range_map = Acrocephalus brevipennis distribution map.png
| range_map_caption = Geographic distribution of the Cape Verde(an) warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis) – it has a very small distribution shown in arrows in the further west
}}
File:Acrocephalus brevipennis MHNT.ZOO.2010.11.200.28.jpg]]
The Cape Verde warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis) is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It is also known as the Cape Verde cane warbler or Cape Verde swamp warbler, and in Creole as tchota-de-cana or chincherote{{cite web |url=https://www.infopedia.pt/dicionarios/lingua-portuguesa/chincherote |title=chincherote |work=Língua Portuguesa com Acordo Ortográfico |publisher=Infopedia |access-date=27 November 2016}} (also tchintchirote).{{cite web |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/6920/uhm_mfa_442_r.pdf |title=Dancing voices |last=Teodoro |first=Melissa |date= |website= |publisher= |access-date=27 November 2016}} Note: because of different spelling systems in use it is also found as txintxiroti. It breeds on Santiago, Fogo, and São Nicolau in the Cape Verde Islands.{{Cite web|url=http://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/22714852|title=Cape Verde Swamp-warbler (Acrocephalus brevipennis) - BirdLife species factsheet|website=datazone.birdlife.org|access-date=25 April 2017|publisher=BirdLife International}}{{Cite journal|last1=Batalha|first1=Helena R.|last2=Wright|first2=David J.|last3=Barr|first3=Iain|last4=Collar|first4=Nigel J.|last5=Richardson|first5=David S.|date=1 April 2017|title=Genetic diversity and divergence in the endangered Cape Verde warbler Acrocephalus brevipennis|journal=Conservation Genetics|language=en|volume=18|issue=2|pages=343–357|doi=10.1007/s10592-016-0909-3|bibcode=2017ConG...18..343B |s2cid=44530595|issn=1566-0621|url=https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/61645/1/Accepted_manuscript.pdf}} It previously bred on Brava. This species is found in well-vegetated valleys, avoiding drier areas. It nests in reedbeds, two to three eggs being laid in a suspended nest.{{cite journal|first1=P. F.|last1=Donald|last2=Taylor|first2=R.|last3=de Ponte Machado|first3=M.|last4=Pitta Groz|first4=M. J.|last5=Wells|first5=C. E.|last6=Marlow|first6=T.|last7=Hille|first7=S. M.|year=2004|url=http://malimbus.free.fr/articles/V26/26034037.pdf|title=Status of the Cape Verde Cane Warbler Acrocephalus brevipennis on São Nicolau, with notes on song, breeding behaviour and threats|journal=Malimbus|volume=26|pages=34–37}}
Description
This is a medium-sized warbler, larger than the Eurasian reed warbler. It resembles that bird in appearance, grey-brown above, greyish-white below, with no obvious markings. The geographical isolation of the bird on the Cape Verde Islands prevents confusion with other similar species. The song is a distinctive liquid bubbling, like that of a bulbul.
Distribution and habitat
At one time it was thought that the Cape Verde warbler was restricted to the island of Santiago. After a specimen was found in a Lisbon museum, a survey was made on São Nicolau island in 1998 and some individuals were found there.{{cite journal|last=Hazevoet |first=C. J.|author2= Monteiro, L. R.|author3= Ratcliffe, N.|year= 1999|title= Rediscovery of the Cape Verde Cane Warbler Acrocephalus brevipennis on São Nicolau in February 1998 |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |issue=4}} In 2004 a further population was discovered on Fogo island{{cite journal|last=Hering |first=J. |year=2005 |title=Discovery of Cape Verde Warbler Acrocephalus brevipennis on Fogo, Cape Verde Islands |journal=Bulletin of the African Bird Club |volume=12 |issue=3|pages=147–149 |doi=10.5962/p.309752 |doi-access=free }} and further survey found it was widespread across the north of the island up to altitudes of about 1,300 m. On Santiago it can be found across the whole island, including in Barragem de Poilão, S. Jorge, Serra Malagueta, Rui Vaz and Tarrafal.{{cite book|last=Garcia-del-Rey |first=E. |year=2016 |title=Birds of the Cape Verde Islands |publisher=Sociedad Ornitologica Canaria|location=Barcelona, Spain}} Although previously thought to be mainly restricted to woodland and scrub, it is now reported from a wider range of habitats including well-vegetated valleys, reedbeds, cultivated land and around water sources such as dams.
Status
The population trend of the Cape Verde warbler is thought to be declining, probably because of habitat destruction and the droughts that have beset the islands.{{cite book|last=Hazevoet |first=C. J. |author-link=Cornelis Hazevoet |year=1995 |title=The birds of the Cape Verde islands: an annotated checklist |publisher=British Ornithologists’ Union |location= Tring}} With its restricted range and relatively small population, this bird has been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a vulnerable species.
References
{{Reflist|45em}}
{{Commonscat|Acrocephalus brevipennis}}
{{Wikispecies|Acrocephalus brevipennis}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q890918}}
Category:Birds described in 1866
Category:Endemic birds of Cape Verde
Category:Fauna of Fogo, Cape Verde