This Afrotropical warbler occurs from Tanzania to the KwaZulu-Natal coast, South Africa, and is common in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and north-eastern South Africa. It is reported rarely from the Caprivi Strip in Namibia. While its reporting rate was a mere 2% from well-studied areas such as the Mahango area of the Bwabwata National Park, the Katima Mulilo woodlands and the Kongola Bridge on the Kwando River, it was found to be the commonest tropical warbler in nearby Botswana at one pair per three to six hectares. Brown (1990) also described it as common on the riparian fringes of the Okavango River.