First breeding record of the Cricket Warbler (Spiloptila clamans) in Algeria.
Premier cas de reproduction de la Prinia à front écailleux en Algérie.
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A birding trip by members of the Algerian Wildlife Watchers Association (AWWA) to the Wilaya (Province) of Bordj Badji Mokhtar in the south of Algeria produced the first record of Cricket Warbler for the country. The team was composed by Bachir (Mourad) Harzallah, Mohamed Missoum, Aimene Boulaouad, and Khaled Ayyach.
The group initially observed two Cricket Warblers on 12 October 2022 some Kl north of Timiaouine, followed by the discovery of a nest with three nestlings and an additional juvenile underneath a tree.
In the next two day, they found more birds including three families in a section of about 3 km in the valley of Tawendart, near the border with Mali.
All the localities where the species was recorded are located south of the classic limit of the Western Palearctic (sensu BWP).
The observation was published in:
Boulaouad, B. A., Harzallah, B., Ayyach, K., Missoum, M. & Ailam, O. 2023. First Records of the Cricket Warbler Spiloptila clamans (Cretzschmar, 1826) (Passeriformes: Cisticolidae) in Algeria. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 75(4): 563-565.