Grey Wren-Warbler
Calamonastes simplex (Cabanis, 1878)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Camaroptera simplex
G E Lodge (died 1954) · Public domain · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The grey wren-warbler (Calamonastes simplex) is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae.
It is found in Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.
Its natural habitat is dry savanna.
The grey wren-warbler is a shy bird found in dense bush and undergrowth. It is normally found singly or in pairs and is a dark brownish-grey with inconspicuous barred markings. The tail is black and the eye red. It is more likely to be heard than seen though there may be an occasional glimpse of its tail which wags up and down as it forages. Its sharp call is rather like two stones striking each other.
Wikipedia contributors, Grey wren-warbler; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:26:41.639632+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Calamonastes simplex (Cabanis, 1878)
- Name authority
- (Cabanis, 1878)
- Common name
- Grey Wren-Warbler
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cisticolidae
- Genus
- Calamonastes
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyCisticolidae Sundevall, 1872
- genusCalamonastes Sharpe, 1883
- speciesCalamonastes simplex (Cabanis, 1878)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Calamonastes. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Barred Wren-WarblerCalamonastes fasciolatus (A. Smith, 1847) | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Calamonastes undosus (Reichenow, 1882) | CisticolidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=558975 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:PDMH. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.