Cettiidae
Encyclopedia
Cettiidae is a newly validated family
of small insectivorous songbird
s ("warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler
"wastebin
" assemblage. It contains the typical bush-warblers (Cettia
) and their relatives. As common name, cettiid warblers is usually used.
Its members occur mainly in Asia
and Africa
, ranging into Wallacea
and Europe
. The monarch-warblers (Erythrocercus
), Tit-hylia Pholidornis and Green Hylia (Hylia
) are exclusively found in the forests of Africa. The pseudo-tailorbirds, tesias and stubtails, as well as Tickellia and Abroscopus
warblers are mostly found in the forests of south and southeastern Asia, with one species reaching as far north as Japan and Siberia. The genus Cettia has the widest distribution of the family, reaching from Western Europe across Asia to the Pacific islands of Fiji
and Palau
. Most of the species in the genus are sedentary, but the Asian Stubtail
is wholly migratory
and the Japanese Bush-warbler and Cetti's Warbler
are partly migratory over much of their range. A few species, such as the Pale-footed Bush-warbler, are altitudinal migrants.
The species
are small, stubby birds. Most have moderately long to long tails, while the stubtails and tesias have tiny tails that do not even emerge past their tail retrices. The group is typically clad in dull plumage, often with a line above the eye. Some, like the monarch-warblers (Erythrocercus
), are much different in appearance, having areas of bright yellow plumage. Altogether the Cettiidae are a quite variable group containing many aberrant birds that hitherto had been uncomfortably placed with a wide range of unrelated families. The Megaluridae
which contain birds which appear very similar to many cettiids are far more uniform by contrast.
Most live in scrubland and frequently hunt food by clambering through thick tangled growth.
Among the "warbler and babbler
" superfamily
Sylvioidea
, the Cettiidae represent an ancient lineage. As a group, they are probably closest to the Aegithalidae, the long-tailed tits and relatives.
Other genera, such as Eremomela
, might belong here too.
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
of small insectivorous songbird
Songbird
A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds . Another name that is sometimes seen as scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin oscen, "a songbird"...
s ("warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler
Old World warbler
The "Old World Warblers" is the name used to describe a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the cisticolas into...
"wastebin
Wastebin taxon
Wastebasket taxon is a term used in some taxonomic circles to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined by their lack of one or more distinct character states or by their not belonging to one or more other taxa...
" assemblage. It contains the typical bush-warblers (Cettia
Cettia
Cettia is a genus of small insectivorous songbirds which make up the core of the newly recognized family Cettiidae. They were formerly placed in the Sylviidae, which at that time was a wastebin taxon for the warbler-like Sylvioidea. The range of this genus extends from Europe to the western Pacific...
) and their relatives. As common name, cettiid warblers is usually used.
Its members occur mainly in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, ranging into Wallacea
Wallacea
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The monarch-warblers (Erythrocercus
Erythrocercus
Erythrocercus is a genus of bird in the Monarchidae family found in Africa.It contains the following species:* Yellow Flycatcher * Livingstone's Flycatcher...
), Tit-hylia Pholidornis and Green Hylia (Hylia
Green Hylia
The Green Hylia is a songbird species traditionally included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but probably belonging to the bush-warbler family...
) are exclusively found in the forests of Africa. The pseudo-tailorbirds, tesias and stubtails, as well as Tickellia and Abroscopus
Abroscopus
Abroscopus is a small genus of "warbler" in the family Cettiidae, formerly included in the Sylviidae.It contains the following three species:* Rufous-faced Warbler Abroscopus albogularis* Black-faced Warbler Abroscopus schisticeps...
warblers are mostly found in the forests of south and southeastern Asia, with one species reaching as far north as Japan and Siberia. The genus Cettia has the widest distribution of the family, reaching from Western Europe across Asia to the Pacific islands of Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
and Palau
Palau
Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...
. Most of the species in the genus are sedentary, but the Asian Stubtail
Asian Stubtail
The Asian Stubtail is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family.It is found in China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Russia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam....
is wholly migratory
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
and the Japanese Bush-warbler and Cetti's Warbler
Cetti's Warbler
Cetti's Warbler , Cettia cetti, is an Old World warbler which breeds in Europe, northwest Africa and east southern temperate Asia as far as Afghanistan and NW Pakistan. It is the only bush warbler to occur outside Asia...
are partly migratory over much of their range. A few species, such as the Pale-footed Bush-warbler, are altitudinal migrants.
The species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
are small, stubby birds. Most have moderately long to long tails, while the stubtails and tesias have tiny tails that do not even emerge past their tail retrices. The group is typically clad in dull plumage, often with a line above the eye. Some, like the monarch-warblers (Erythrocercus
Erythrocercus
Erythrocercus is a genus of bird in the Monarchidae family found in Africa.It contains the following species:* Yellow Flycatcher * Livingstone's Flycatcher...
), are much different in appearance, having areas of bright yellow plumage. Altogether the Cettiidae are a quite variable group containing many aberrant birds that hitherto had been uncomfortably placed with a wide range of unrelated families. The Megaluridae
Megaluridae
Locustellidae is a newly recognized family of small insectivorous songbirds , formerly placed in the Old World warbler "wastebin" family. It contains the grass-warblers, grassbirds, and the Bradypterus "bush-warblers". These birds occur mainly in Eurasia, Africa, and the Australian region...
which contain birds which appear very similar to many cettiids are far more uniform by contrast.
Most live in scrubland and frequently hunt food by clambering through thick tangled growth.
Among the "warbler and babbler
Babbler
Babbler may refer to:* Old World babbler, a large family of mostly Old World passerine birds* Australo-Papuan babbler, passerine birds endemic to Australia-New Guinea* The Babbler, the journal of BirdLife International in Indochina...
" superfamily
Taxonomic rank
In biological classification, rank is the level in a taxonomic hierarchy. Examples of taxonomic ranks are species, genus, family, and class. Each rank subsumes under it a number of less general categories...
Sylvioidea
Sylvioidea
Sylvioidea is a superfamily of passerine birds. It is one of at least three major clades within the Passerida along with the Muscicapoidea and Passeroidea. It contains about 1300 species including the Old World warblers, Old World babblers, swallows, larks, bulbuls and perhaps the tits...
, the Cettiidae represent an ancient lineage. As a group, they are probably closest to the Aegithalidae, the long-tailed tits and relatives.
Genera
- Pholidornis – Tit-hylia (formerly in Remizidae; tentatively placed here)
- HyliaGreen HyliaThe Green Hylia is a songbird species traditionally included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but probably belonging to the bush-warbler family...
– Green Hylia (tentatively placed here) - AbroscopusAbroscopusAbroscopus is a small genus of "warbler" in the family Cettiidae, formerly included in the Sylviidae.It contains the following three species:* Rufous-faced Warbler Abroscopus albogularis* Black-faced Warbler Abroscopus schisticeps...
– Abroscopus warblers (3 species) - ErythrocercusErythrocercusErythrocercus is a genus of bird in the Monarchidae family found in Africa.It contains the following species:* Yellow Flycatcher * Livingstone's Flycatcher...
– monarch-warblers (3 species, formerly in MonarchinaeMonarchinaeThe Monarch Flycatchers comprise a family of passerine birds which includes boatbills, shrikebills, paradise-flycatchers, and magpie-larks....
) - UrosphenaUrosphenaUrosphena is a genus of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family.It contains the following species:* Asian Stubtail * Timor Stubtail * Bornean Stubtail...
– stubtails (3 species) - TesiaTesiaThe tesias are a genus, Tesia, of Old World warbler. The genus was once included in the large family Sylviidae but recent research placed it within the new family Cettiidae. The genus has a discontinuous distribution in East and South East Asia...
– tesias (5 species) - CettiaCettiaCettia is a genus of small insectivorous songbirds which make up the core of the newly recognized family Cettiidae. They were formerly placed in the Sylviidae, which at that time was a wastebin taxon for the warbler-like Sylvioidea. The range of this genus extends from Europe to the western Pacific...
– typical bush-warblers (some 15 species, polyphyletic) - Tickellia – Broad-billed Warbler
- Phyllergates – pseudo-tailorbirds (2 species, formerly in Orthotomus)
- Mountain TailorbirdMountain TailorbirdThe Mountain Tailorbird is a songbird species formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage with the other tailorbirds, but it actually seems to be one of the "pseudo-tailorbirds" which should be considered a genus Phyllergates in the family Cettiidae.It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan,...
Phyllergates cucullatus - Rufous-headed TailorbirdRufous-headed TailorbirdThe Rufous-Headed Tailorbird is a species of Old World warbler in the Sylviidae family.It is found only in the Philippines....
Phyllergates heterolaemus
- Mountain Tailorbird
Other genera, such as Eremomela
Eremomela
The eremomelas are a genus, Eremomela, of passerines in the cisticola family Cisticolidae. The genus was previously placed with the larger Old World warbler family Sylviidae prior to that genus being broken up into several families. The genus contains ten to eleven species, all of which are found...
, might belong here too.