Chapin's crombec

Chapin's crombec (Sylvietta leucophrys chapini), also known as the Lendu crombec, is an enigmatic African warbler, formerly placed in the family Sylviidae. It is currently considered a subspecies of the white-browed crombec, but might be a distinct species; too little is known about it to determine this now with reasonable certainty.

Chapin's crombec
Conservation status
Critically Endangered  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Macrosphenidae
Genus:	Sylvietta
Species:	S. leucophrys
Subspecies:	S. l. chapini
Trinomial name
Sylvietta leucophrys chapini Schouteden, 1947
Synonyms
Sylvietta chapini

It is found only in the Lendu Plateau, Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was removed from the IUCN Red List in 2007 as it is considered a white-browed crombec subspecies, pending further research. It was previously considered a species of least concern, though actually it has not been encountered for some time, and might even be extinct. However, this is not very likely given the fairly low rates of bird extinctions in Africa - compared to, e.g., South America and Southeast Asia. In any case, the Second Congo War, and especially the Ituri conflict, have completely prevented any effort to relocate these birds.^[2]

The common name commemorates the American ornithologist James Paul Chapin.^[3]

References

1. BirdLife International (2017). "Sylvietta chapini". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22715107A111466107. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22715107A111466107.en. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
2. See Baillie et al. (2004).
3. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. London: Christopher Helm. p. 81-81.