Grey-backed Camaroptera
Camaroptera brevicaudata (Cretzschmar, 1830)
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.
Open encyclopedia reference
The grey-backed camaroptera (Camaroptera brevicaudata) is a small bird in the family Cisticolidae. This bird is a resident breeder in Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Recent studies suggest this species and the green-backed camaroptera may be the same species. This skulking passerine is typically found low in dense cover. The grey-backed camaroptera binds large leaves together low in a bush and builds a grass nest within the leaves. The normal clutch is two or three eggs. This 11.5 cm (4.5 in) long warbler has grey upper parts and a grey short cocked tail. The wings are olive and the underparts whitish grey. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are paler yellow on the breast. Like most warblers, grey-backed camaroptera is insectivorous. The call is a whining sheee...sheee and a bleating maa, that gave rise to its previous name bleating warbler or bleating camaroptera. The song is a crisp twik twik twik twik twik. The grey-backed camaroptera was described by the German physician and zoologist Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar in 1830 under the binomial name Sylvia brevicaudata.
Wikipedia contributors, Grey-backed camaroptera; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:57:49.257765+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Camaroptera brevicaudata (Cretzschmar, 1830)
- Name authority
- (Cretzschmar, 1830)
- Common name
- Grey-backed Camaroptera
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Cisticolidae
- Genus
- Camaroptera
- 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
- genusCamaroptera Sundevall, 1850
- speciesCamaroptera brevicaudata (Cretzschmar, 1830)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Camaroptera. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Green-backed CamaropteraCamaroptera brachyura (Vieillot, 1821) | 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=559008 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. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
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:Q8MF. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.