Introduction

The Mountain Marsh Widowbird was collected by Friedrich Fulleborn, a Prussian physician.

Fulleborn studied medicine and natural sciences in Berlin. From 1896 onward, he was a military physician assigned to the Schutztruppe in German East Africa (Tanzania). In 1898-1900 he participated in the Nyassa- and Kingagebirgs Expedition to southern Tanzania, where he conducted anthropological and ethnographic research. He also collected bird specimens, which he sent to Berlin. In 1899 he collected birds in the region north of Lake Malawi (but in Tanzania), a region not explored ornithologically until then. Fulleborn found the type of the Mountain Marsh Widowbird at Tandala in Ukinga, Tanzania.

The first illustration of the Mountain Marsh Widowbird was of an adult male, published by Reichenow (1902). The next illustrations were published much later, from the 1980s onwards.

Scientific citation

Meaning of names

First English name

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Collector

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Locality collected

Type specimens

The non-breeding male is dull coloured but retains the shoulder patches. The female and sub-adult are much larger and more heavily streaked below than other widowbirds in their range.

Distribution. The Mountain Marsh Widowbird is restricted to the Nyika Plateau in Zambia and Malawi, and to the highlands of SW Tanzania to Njombe and Iringa, where it is locally common (see map below, based on Birds of Africa). It was formerly treated as a race of the Marsh Widowbird, but its habitat, geographic isolation, and distinct voices separates it as a species.

Habitat. The Mountain Marsh Widowbird inhabits short, thick, montane grassland usually near streams. It is found in pairs or small groups, but forms large flocks in the non-breeding season.

Food. The Mountain Marsh Widowbird feeds on grass seeds and insects.

Breeding. The Mountain Marsh Widowbird is territorial and is probably polygynous. The male displays in a slow flight over grasslands, with his long tail conspicuous. The nest is simialr to that of other widowbirds in being a dome-shaped structure of fine grass, and loosely woven with a side entrance. The nest is built with living grass as part of the nest.

The clutch size is 2 eggs, which are pale olive-green, and densely marked with very flne brown spots and streaks. Nothing else is known about breeding.