Little Rush Warbler (Bradypterus baboecala) [XC43613]
by Charles Hesse from Intaka Island (Century City), Milnerton, Western Cape, South Africa (song)
Little Rush Warbler (Bradypterus baboecala) [XC395882]
by isaac kilusu from Shaw Park, Bathurst District, Eastern Cape, South Africa (song)
Subspecies
Perhaps allied to White-winged Swamp-Warbler (Bradypterus carpalis), which it resembles vocally. Together with White-winged Swamp-Warbler (Bradypterus carpalis), Grauer's Swamp-Warbler (Bradypterus graueri) and Dja River Swamp-Warbler (Bradypterus grandis), make up a group of four swamp-dwelling Afrotropical species. Birds in Kenya Highlands sing differently from those of eastern African coast and in western and southern Africa, and may prove to represent a distinct species.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
chadensis Bannerman, 1936 - L Chad.
centralis Neumann, 1908 - Nigeria and Cameroon; north-eastern DRCongo east to south-western Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Highland Rush-warbler (Bradypterus centralis).
elgonensis Madarász, 1912 - Highlands of eastern Uganda and western and central Kenya. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Highland Rush-warbler (Bradypterus centralis).
msiri Neave, 1909 - South-eastern DRCongo and northern and western Zambia (to bordering south-western Tanzania) south to eastern and south-eastern Angola, extreme north-eastern Namibia (Caprivi) and north-western Botswana.
benguellensis Bannerman, 1927 - Western Angolan plateau.
tongensis Roberts, 1931 - South-eastern Kenya, eastern Tanzania, eastern and southern Zambia, Malawi, eastern Zimbabwe and north-west, central and southern Mozambique south to north-eastern South Africa (eastern northern Province, lowland KwaZulu-Natal) and eastern Swaziland.
transvaalensis Roberts, 1919 - Central Zimbabwe plateau, northern and eastern South Africa (highveld of northern Province, western KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, eastern Griqualand), western Swaziland and lowlands of Lesotho.
baboecala (Vieillot, 1817) - Southern South Africa (Western Cape, eastern Cape).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet