Grumpy Warblers

This week, we move into Africa to look for a small family of songbirds.

Members of this kind are found throughout sub-Saharan Africa. They are songbirds, and species within the kind can be distinguished from each other by their song where they come into contact.1 They eat a wide variety of insects in a variety of African habitats.

These birds are unique in many ways! Unlike humans, where female chromosomes are XX and male chromosomes are XY, male birds are ZZ and female birds are ZW. And, in this kind, at least one species has pieces of other chromosomes that have moved into the sex chromosomes,2 which determine gender, and this makes certain traits more likely if they are male or female.

Has anyone figured it out yet? This week’s kind is the Macrosphenidae—the African warbler kind. And if you look at some of the pictures in this article, you can see why I called them grumpy last week! Stay tuned for next week when we meet a colorful group of Central and South American birds.

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Clue

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Members of this kind often breed in special systems called leks, where males display for female attention.

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