Sombre Greenbul (Andropadus importunus) [XC449284]
by Tony Archer from Rd N of Mikumi, Kilosa, Morogoro Region, Tanzania (call)
Sombre Greenbul (Andropadus importunus) [XC774315]
by Oliver Fowler from Mariano, Inhambane, Mozambique (call)
Subspecies
Genus formerly submerged in Pycnonotus. Affinities of this species uncertain. There are no obvious close relatives, and generic placement by no means certain.
Proposed taxon Andropadus fricki (described from central Kenyan Highlands), resembling subspecies insularis but with yellow eyering, now considered to be immature of that subspecies. Size (weight) increases clinally from Kenya south to South Africa. Several proposed subspecies too poorly differentiated to be safely distinguishable: thus, somaliensis (southern Somalia) and subalaris (coastal Kenya) merged with insularis, loquax (south-central Mozambique) with hypoxanthus, and noomei (north-eastern South Africa) and errolius (eastern South Africa) with nominate.
The following 4 subspecies are recognised:
insularis Hartlaub, 1861 - Extreme southern Ethiopia and southern Somalia south to coastal central Tanzania (including Zanzibar).
hypoxanthus Sharpe, 1876 - Coastal south-eastern Tanzania (including Mafia I) south to Mozambique (north of R Save), and south-central Zambia and Malawi south to Zimbabwe (except along R Limpopo).
oleaginus Peters, W, 1868 - Southern Zimbabwe (along R Limpopo), southern Mozambique (south of R Save) and lowland northern South Africa (south to northern KwaZulu-Natal) and eastern Swaziland.
importunus (Vieillot, 1818) - Highlands of northern South Africa and western Swaziland southern along coast to western Cape.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet