Swynnerton's Robin

Swynnerton's robin is superficially similar to the larger White-starred robin, but has a white crescent on the upper breast, which is bordered below with a black line, and its grey tail lacks yellow windows. Its sexually dimorphic plumage is unusual among African robins. The female has duller plumage and an olive wash over the crown and face. Juveniles are spotted buffy yellow on the head and upper parts, while the chest crescent is pale greyish brown. This species has a length of 13 to 14 cm (5.1 to 5.5 in).

Vocalisations. Swynnerton's robin has a song which has been described as a 3 note whistle, rendered as "zit zitt slurr" or "tsee-tuu-tuu". The third note may be lower in pitch than the preceding 2. The alarm call is a quiet chattering "trrrrrt".

Swynnerton's robin is a localised distribution in eastern and southern Africa. In Tanzania there are two populations, one in the Udzungwa Mountains and another, smaller population, in the East Usambara Mountains. The Tanzanian populations are the subspecies S. s. rodgersi. There are two populations in Mozambique, named as S. s, umbratica by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, on e on Mount Gorongosa and the other on Mount Mabu in the north of the country, this population was discovered in 2008. In Zimbabwe this species is known to occur at the Chirinda Forest Botanical Reserve and a few small forested areas along the border with Mozambique. This species is almost confined to montane forest between 850 and 1,850 m (2,790 and 6,070 ft) in altitude, except the subpopulation found in the East Usambaras where it likely is found only in lowland evergreen forest at altitudes of 130 to 550 m (430 to 1,800 ft). On Mountt Mabu it has a lower limit of around 1,340 m (4,400 ft) up to the upper limits of the main forest. This species prefers dense undergrowth where there is a high density of saplings, or rank vegetation in the vicinity of streams. In the Bvumba Mountains a 2007 study found Swynnerton's robins between 1,200 and 1,850 m (3,940 and 6,070 ft). It has a strong association with Dracaena fragrans in the Chirinda Forest.

Swynnerton's robin honours the British entomologist Charles Swynnerton in its common name, genus name and specific name. Swynnerton discovered the bird before Shelley formally described it. Roberts used the name Melsetter robin for this species, Melsetter being the colonial era name for Chimanimani. The subspecies S. s. rodgersi has a subspecific epithet which honours Dr W. A. Rodgers who drew Jensen and Stuart's attention to the biological importance of the type locality of this form, the Mwanihana Forest.