The African green broadbill appears to have a widely varied diet, consisting of invertebrates such as small beetles, snails and insect larvae; and vegetable matter including small seeds, flowers, flower buds and fruits (2). It searches for food singly or in small flocks of up to ten birds (2). It will sit motionless on a perch, and then make quick short dashes back and forth after its insect prey, flying with vigorous regular wing beats, but achieving no great speed (3). The African green broadbill has also been seen climbing, like a woodpecker, up vertical branches and on the underside of horizontal limbs searching for invertebrate prey (2). The nest of the African green broadbill is a remarkable structure; a ball woven from twigs, leaves and rootlets (4), 20 to 25 centimetres wide, with a side entrance (2). Layers of green lichen adorn the outside, and it is hung from a near inaccessible tree branch (2). Other information about its breeding is limited. Adult African green broadbills have been found in breeding condition in July and August, a fledged young was seen being fed by an adult in March, and a nest of chicks was found in April (2).

Endemic to the Albertine Rift

http://projects.bebif.be/enbi/albertinerift/birds/taxoninfo?id=343

A rare and beautiful bird, the African green broadbill was first discovered in 1908 and then not seen again for the next twenty years (3). It is a small, plump bird, with bright grass-green plumage, and a pale blue tinge to the throat, breast, base of the short tail and the feathers covering the ears. The forehead is buff, finely streaked with black, and a narrow black stripe runs through the eyes. The wide, flattened and slightly hooked bill is black, as are its claws (2) (3).

Pseudocalyptomena graueri is known from only two areas in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the Itombwe Mountains and the mountains west of Lake Kivu, and one area in south-west Uganda, Bwindi (Impenetrable) Forest. The species is not considered common in Bwindi Forest, where density is probably one per km², and recent surveys have been unsuccessful in locating the species in Kahuzi-Biéga National Park⁷.

African Green Broadbills are an endemic species located in a small region in far eastern Zaire and in western Uganda. This area consists of the Itombwe Mountains and the Impenetrable Forest of Uganda (Keith and al., 1992).

Biogeographic Regions: ethiopian (Native )

E DR Congo (in the Itombwe Mountains and the mountains W of Lake Kivu) and SW Uganda (in the Bwindi-Impenetrable Forest)

The African green broadbill is known from only three locations; the Itombwe Mountains and Mount Kahuzi in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (D.R.C.), and the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in western Uganda (2).

Pseudocalyptomena graueri are 13.6 to 15.6 centimeters in length. Male and female adults are both primarily green with small dark brown to black streaks on the forehead and crown with a white chin and throat. The young are slightly duller than the adults, and both adults and young have beaks that are very wide at the base. No geographical variation is known (Lambert and Woodcock, 1996).

Small, rotund, short-tailed, overall leaf-green in colour with blue throat, breast and rump

10 cm

Habitat and Ecology

Systems

• Terrestrial

African Green Broadbills mostly inhabit tropical primary forest, forest edges, and forests that are dominated by bamboo. They fly at all heights, but seem to prefer the upper branches of fairly tall trees (Lambert and Woodcock, 1996).

Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest

Primary rainforest (up to 20 m off ground, but usually in middle strata in Bwindi), and also forest edge and isolated trees in cleared ground (BirdLife International 2011)

Forest and edges (Lack 2010)

Inhabits montane primary forests, showing a preference for the forest edge, near clearings or open fields (3), between 1,760 and 2,480 meters (2). There appears to be some differences between the D.R.C. and Uganda populations; in the D.R.C it favours the upper branches of tall trees, while in Uganda it is more frequently found in the forest understorey (2).

Resident

African Green Broadbills are omnivores and feed on seeds, flowers, buds, fruits, beetles, larvae, and snails (Keith and al., 1992).

Pseudocalyptomena graueri are thought to have long breeding seasons. They have been found to nest 11 meters up in 20 meter tall trees in the outer most branches. They make their nests out of a Spanish-moss-like green lichen, and their nests are usually 20 to 25 centimeters in diameter with a 5 centimeter wide entrance. Besides this information, little else is known about the reproduction of P. graueri (Keith and al., 1992).

Year Assessed

Assessor/s

Reviewer/s

Contributor/s

Justification

History

• 2004
  Vulnerable
• 2000
  Vulnerable
• 1996
  Vulnerable
• 1994
  Vulnerable

Although common in the Itombwe Mountains of Zaire, P. graueri are rare in the Impenetrable forest in Uganda and have been classified as both Rare and Vulnerable by different biologists. They are threatened by forest clearance near villages, commercial logging, and mining activities. Safe from these hazards is the population found in the mountains west of Lake Kivu, Zaire, which is thought to be protected because it resides in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Lambert and Woodcock, 1996).

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable

Vulnerable

Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List (1).

Population

Population Trend

Major Threats

The African green broadbill inhabits a volatile area, much of which is threatened by deforestation and habitat degradation (5). Forests in the Itombwe Mountains and surrounding Mount Kahuzi are under increasing pressure from rapidly rising human populations; an influx of Rwandan refugees in 1994 and rebel soldiers from 1997 resulted in widespread forest clearance for agriculture and hunting (5) (6). The year 2000 also saw a rush for the valuable industrial mineral coltan, which attracted more than 10,000 miners to the Kahuz-Biéga National Park in which Mount Kahuzi lies, and led to drastic deforestation and poaching (6).

Conservation Actions

The African green broadbill occurs in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park which, unlike the Kahuz-Biéga National Park, is well protected. The third location in which the broadbill is found, the Itombwe Mountains, is not protected and faces many threats (5). Surveys are required to determine the distribution and status of the African green broadbill (5), but at present, the situation is too dangerous in the region to conduct any research (6).

African Green Broadbills have little economic importance to humans. While they are very pretty birds, they are usually hard to spot so they are not key figures in tourism (Keith and al., 1992).