Chestnut-throated apalis

Chestnut-throated apalis
Conservation status

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cisticolidae
Genus: Apalis
Species: A. porphyrolaema
Binomial name
Apalis porphyrolaema
Reichenow & Neumann, 1895

The chestnut-throated apalis (Apalis porphyrolaema) is a species of bird in the cisticola family Cisticolidae. The Kabobo apalis, originally described as a distinct species, is usually treated as a subspecies A. p. kaboboensis of the chestnut-throated apalis today. It is itself sometimes considered to be the same species as the Chapin's apalis. The species is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, where it is a species of highland forests above 1600 m.

The chestnut-throated apalis is a 12 cm long apalis with mostly grey plumage. The nominate subspecies and the subspecies affinis both have chestnut throats, whereas the Kabobo apalis has an entirely grey throat but paler undersides.

The chestnut-throated apalis feeds on insects and other small invertebrates, which are obtained by gleaning from leaves and twigs, hover gleaning and hawking in the air.

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