Evergreen Forest Warbler (Bradypterus lopezi) [XC660639]
by Dries Van de Loock from Lavushi Manda NP, Muchinga Province, Zambia (song)
Evergreen Forest Warbler (Bradypterus lopezi) [XC509933]
by Peter Boesman from Magamba forest reserve, Tanga, Tanzania (song)
Subspecies
Has been treated as conspecific with Barratt's Warbler (Bradypterus barratti) and along with Cinnamon Bracken-warbler (Bradypterus cinnamomeus) and Bangwa Warbler (Bradypterus bangwaensis) make up a group of similar Afrotropical sylviids of forest and forest edge. Subspecies comprise two groups, western "nominate group" (including also camerunensis and barakae) and eastern and southern "mariae group" (remaining subspecies). These are sometimes regarded as two separate species, but they are similar in voice and tail structure. Subspecies ufipae formerly treated under Cinnamon Bracken-warbler (Bradypterus cinnamomeus) on account of close plumage similarity to latter.
Proposed subspecies "manengubae" (Mt Manenguba, Cameroon) theoretically belonging to present species is probably a variant form of Bangwa Warbler (Bradypterus bangwaensis). Original spelling "lopezi" was emended by the describer himself later in same year to "lopesi", as intended to honour the original collector, but this is an unjustified emendation. The prevailing usage also appears to be heavily in favour of retaining "lopezi" as the correct name.
The following 9 subspecies are recognised:
lopezi (Alexander, 1903) - Bioko I (Fernando Póo).
camerunensis Alexander, 1909 - Mt Cameroon, in south-western Cameroon.
barakae Sharpe, 1906 - Eastern DRCongo (Ruwenzoris, Kivu Volcanoes, Itombwe, Upemba National Park) and highlands of south-western Uganda and northern Rwanda.
mariae Madarász, 1905 - Kenya (western and central Highlands, Chyulus) and northern Tanzania (Oldeani east to Kilimanjaro). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Evergreen Forest Warbler (Bradypterus mariae).
usambarae Reichenow, 1917 - South-eastern Kenya (Taitas), eastern and southern Tanzania (northern Pares and Usambaras south to Mbeya, Njombe, Mt Rungwe and Songea), north-eastern Zambia (Nyika Plateau), northern Malawi (northern Nyika) and northern Mozambique (Uwango).
ufipae (Grant, CHB & Mackworth-Praed, 1941) - South-western Tanzania (Ufipa plateau, Mbisi forest), south-eastern DRCongo (Murungu plateau) and northern Zambia.
granti Benson, 1939 - Malawi (south of Nyika) and northern Mozambique (Mt Chipperone).
boultoni Chapin, 1948 - Western Angola (highlands of southern Cuanza Sul, Huambo and northern Huíla).
manengubae Serle, 1949 - Western Cameroon (Mt. Manenguba).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet