Grass warbler
Encyclopedia
The grass-warblers are small passerine
bird
s belonging to the genus
Locustella. Formerly placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warbler
" assemblage, they are now considered the northernmost representatives of a largely Gondwana
n family, the Locustellidae.
These are rather drab brownish "warblers" usually associated with fairly open grassland, shrubs or marshes. Some are streaked, others plain, all are difficult to view. They are insectivorous.
The most characteristic feature of this group is that the song of several species is a mechanical insect
-like reeling which gives rise to the group's scientific name.
Species breeding in temperate regions are strongly migratory
.
The nine species are:
A fossil
acrocoracoid from the Late Miocene
(about 11 mya) of Rudabánya
(NE Hungary
) is quite similar to this bone in the present genus (Bernor et al. 2002). Given its rather early age (most Passerida
genera are not known until the Pliocene
), it is not too certain that it is correctly placed here, but it is highly likely to belong to the Megaluridae at the least. As the grass-warblers are the only known megalurid warblers from Europe, it is still quite likely that the bone piece belongs to a basal
Locustella.
Passerine
A passerine is a bird of the order Passeriformes, which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds or, less accurately, as songbirds, the passerines form one of the most diverse terrestrial vertebrate orders: with over 5,000 identified species, it has roughly...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s belonging to the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Locustella. Formerly placed in the paraphyletic "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...
" assemblage, they are now considered the northernmost representatives of a largely Gondwana
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
n family, the Locustellidae.
These are rather drab brownish "warblers" usually associated with fairly open grassland, shrubs or marshes. Some are streaked, others plain, all are difficult to view. They are insectivorous.
The most characteristic feature of this group is that the song of several species is a mechanical insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
-like reeling which gives rise to the group's scientific name.
Species breeding in temperate regions are strongly 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...
.
The nine species are:
- Savi's WarblerSavi's WarblerThe Savi's Warbler, Locustella luscinioides, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds in southern Europe into temperate western Asia. It is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa....
, Locustella luscinoides - Pallas's Grasshopper-warbler, Locustella certhiola
- Middendorf's Grasshopper-warbler, Locustella ochotensis
- Lanceolated WarblerLanceolated WarblerThe Lanceolated Warbler is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds from northeast European Russia across northern Asia to northern Hokkaidō, Japan...
, Locustella lanceolata - River WarblerRiver WarblerThe River Warbler, Locustella fluviatilis, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds in east and central Europe into western Asia. It is migratory, wintering in east Africa....
Locustella fluviatilis - Gray's Grasshopper-warbler, Locustella fasciolata
- Grasshopper WarblerGrasshopper WarblerThe Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevia, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds across much of temperate Europe and Asia. It is migratory, wintering from northwest Africa to India....
, Locustella naevia - Styan's Grasshopper-warblerStyan's Grasshopper-warblerStyan's Grasshopper Warbler , also known as Pleske's Grasshopper Warbler, is a species of Old World warbler in the Locustellidae family. It is found in China, Hong Kong, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry...
, Locustella pleskei - Japanese Swamp Warbler, Locustella pryeri
A fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
acrocoracoid from the Late Miocene
Late Miocene
The Late Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch....
(about 11 mya) of Rudabánya
Rudabánya
- External links :* *...
(NE Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
) is quite similar to this bone in the present genus (Bernor et al. 2002). Given its rather early age (most Passerida
Passerida
Passerida is under the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, one of two "parvorders" contained within the suborder Passeri...
genera are not known until the Pliocene
Pliocene
The Pliocene Epoch is the period in the geologic timescale that extends from 5.332 million to 2.588 million years before present. It is the second and youngest epoch of the Neogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Pliocene follows the Miocene Epoch and is followed by the Pleistocene Epoch...
), it is not too certain that it is correctly placed here, but it is highly likely to belong to the Megaluridae at the least. As the grass-warblers are the only known megalurid warblers from Europe, it is still quite likely that the bone piece belongs to a basal
Basal (phylogenetics)
In phylogenetics, a basal clade is the earliest clade to branch in a larger clade; it appears at the base of a cladogram.A basal group forms an outgroup to the rest of the clade, such as in the following example:...
Locustella.