Habitat

Occupies dense undergrowth at montane forest edges and clearings, but also inside wet montane forest, often with tree ferns, from ca. 1,000‒2,600 m elevation (42 Benson, C. W. (1946). A collection from near Unangu, Portuguese East Africa. Ibis 88(2):240–241. Close , 13 Ripley, S. D., and G. Heinrich (1966). Comments on the avifauna of Tanzania I. Postilla 96:1–45. Close , 43 Stuart, S. N., and T. A. van der Willigen (1978). Report of the Cambridge Ecological Expedition to Tanzania 1978. Cambridge, United Kingdom. Unpublished report. Close , 44 Willis, E. O. (1986). Vireos, wood warblers and warblers as ant followers. Gerfaut 76(3):177–186. Close , 32 Jensen, F. P., and S. Brøgger-Jensen (1992). The forest avifauna of the Uzungwa Mountains, Tanzania. Scopus 15(2):65–83. Close , 27 Romdal, T. S. (2001). An ornithological survey of the Nguru Mountains, Tanzania. Scopus 22:49–62. Close , 24 Cordeiro, N. J., V. M. Pohjonen, and E. Mulungu (2001). Is the endangered Long-billed (Moreau’s) Tailorbird Orthotomus [Artisornis] moreaui safe in the East Usambaras? Bulletin of the African Bird Club 8(2):91–94. Close , 39 Ryan, P. G., and C. N. Spottiswoode (2003). Long-billed Tailorbirds (Orthotomus moreaui) rediscovered at Serra Jeci, northern Mozambique. Ostrich 74(2):141–145. Close , 14 Jones, S. E. I., J. K. Clause, L. Geeraert, G. A. Jamie, E. Sumbane, T. van Berkel, and M. Jocque (2017). The Njesi Plateau Expedition: A biological assessment of Mt Chitagal, Mt Sanga and the Njesi Plateau in Niassa Province, Mozambique. BES Report 6.3. Biodiversity Inventory for Conservation, Glabbeek, Belgium. Close ). In the Udzungwa Mountains, it is also common in mature secondary forest (45 Moyer, D. C. (1993). A preliminary trial of territory mapping for estimating bird densities in Afromontane forest. In Proceedings of the VIII Pan-African Ornithological Congress. Annales du Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale (Zoologie) 268, Tervuren, Belgium. pp. 302–311. Close ), and in the Uluguru Mountains, it has been seen in the Bunduki Forest, a plantation of non-native Pinus sp., Eucalyptus sp., Cupressus sp., and Grevillea robusta at 1,200‒1,550 m (46 Werema, C., and K. M. Howell (2016). Seasonal variation in diversity and abundance of understorey birds in Bunduki Forest Reserve, Tanzania: evaluating the conservation value of a plantation forest. Ostrich 87:89–93. Close ).