Cyprus warbler

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Cyprus warbler
Cyprus Warbler (Sylvia melanothorax).jpg
Adult male
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sylviidae
Genus: Curruca
Species:
C. melanothorax
Binomial name
Curruca melanothorax
(Tristram, 1872)
Synonyms

Sylvia melanothorax

The Cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax) is a typical warbler which breeds only on Cyprus. [2] This small passerine bird is a short-distance migrant, and winters in Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male is a small typical warbler with a grey back, black head, white malar streaks ("moustaches"), and, uniquely among typical warblers, underparts heavily streaked with black. The female is mainly grey above, with a greyer head, and whitish with only light spotting. The Cyprus warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is similar to that of the Sardinian warbler.

Together with Rüppell's warbler it forms a superspecies with dark throats, white malar streaks and light remigial fringes. This in turn is related to the species of Mediterranean and Middle East Curruca warblers that have a naked eye-ring, namely the eastern subalpine warbler, Sardinian warbler and Menetries's warbler. Both groups have a white malar area, but this may not form a clear streak in the latter group; above the white, the heads of males are uniformly dark.(The Sylvia Monograph, A & C Black, London; Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006)

This is a bird of dry open country, often on hill slopes, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or gorse, and 3–5 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Typical warbler</span> Genus of birds

The typical warblers are small birds belonging to the genus Sylvia in the "Old World warbler" family Sylviidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barred warbler</span> Species of bird

The barred warbler is a typical warbler which breeds across temperate regions of central and eastern Europe and western and central Asia. This passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical eastern Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common whitethroat</span> Species of bird

The common whitethroat or greater whitethroat is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sardinian warbler</span> Species of bird

The Sardinian warbler is a common and widespread typical warbler from the Mediterranean region. Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has a grey back, whitish underparts, black head, white throat and red eyes. Plumages are somewhat variable even in the same locality, with the intensity of a reddish hue on upper- and/or underside that varies from absent to pronounced. The female is mainly brown above and buff below, with a grey head. The Sardinian warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is very characteristic of the Mediterranean areas where this bird breeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western subalpine warbler</span> Species of bird

The western subalpine warbler is a small typical warbler which breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe and north-western Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesser whitethroat</span> Species of bird

The lesser whitethroat is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in the western and central Palearctic. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, wintering in Africa just south of the Sahara, Arabia and India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dartford warbler</span> Species of bird

The Dartford warbler is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is dull reddish-brown below except for the centre of the belly which has a dirty white patch. It has light speckles on the throat and a red eye-ring. The sexes are similar but the adult female is usually less grey above and paler below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balearic warbler</span> Species of bird

Balearic warbler is a typical warbler, genus Curruca. It is endemic to the Balearic Islands, apart from Menorca. It groups with the Marmora's warbler, Tristram's warbler and the Dartford warbler.

The African desert warbler is a typical warbler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian desert warbler</span> Species of bird

The Asian desert warbler is a typical warbler which breeds in the deserts of central and western Asia and the extreme east of Europe, and migrating to similar habitats in southwestern Asia and the far northeast of Africa in winter. Until recently it was considered conspecific with the African desert warbler, but is now given specific status. The two are still each other's closest living relatives, and their relationships to other typical warblers are not clear. They may be fairly close to the common whitethroat; particularly, female whitethroats look much like a richly coloured Asian desert warbler. But it seems that all these three taxa are fairly basal members of the genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rüppell's warbler</span> Species of bird

Rüppell's warbler is a typical warbler of the genus Curruca. It breeds in Greece, Turkey and neighbouring islands. It is migratory, wintering in northeast Africa. This is a rare vagrant to western Europe. The name is occasionally cited as "Rueppell's warbler".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Orphean warbler</span> Species of bird

The western Orphean warbler is a typical warbler of the genus Curruca. This species occurs in summer around the Mediterranean, through western Europe and extending into northwest Africa. It is migratory, wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a rare vagrant to northern and north-western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marmora's warbler</span> Species of bird

Marmora's warbler is a typical warbler in the Sylviidae family. The specific sarda is a Latin feminine form for a person from Sardinia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spectacled warbler</span> Species of bird

The spectacled warbler is a species in the typical warbler genus, Curruca. The specific conspicillata is from Latin conspicillum, a place to look from, equivalent to "spectacled".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Orphean warbler</span> Species of bird

The eastern Orphean warbler is a typical warbler of the genus Curruca. This species occurs in summer around the Mediterranean, through the Balkans via Turkey, the Caucasus and surrounding regions to Central Asia. It is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern subalpine warbler</span> Species of bird

The eastern subalpine warbler is a small typical warbler which breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe. It was first described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Motacilla cantillans. The specific cantillans is Latin for "warbling" from canere, "to sing".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hume's whitethroat</span> Species of bird

Hume's whitethroat is a species of typical warbler. Until recently, it was considered conspecific with the lesser whitethroat as some authorities now reinstate. These are seen as members of a superspecies which also includes the desert whitethroat. The present species together with the aridland desert whitethroat(s) seems to form an Asian lineage in the superspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert whitethroat</span> Species of bird

The desert whitethroat is a typical warbler. Until recently, it was considered conspecific with the lesser whitethroat as some authorities now reinstate. These are seen as members of a superspecies. The desert whitethroat together with Hume's whitethroat form an Asian lineage in the superspecies, which have diverged into species adapted to drier lowlands and moister mountain habitats respectively. The name small whitethroat has also been used by some authors, and desert lesser whitethroat before it was split from lesser whitethroat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Menetries's warbler</span> Species of bird

Menetries's warbler or Ménétries's warbler is a small passerine bird of Southwest Asia belonging to the genus Curruca. The name of the species commemorates Édouard Ménétries, the French zoologist who described the species in 1832. It is closely related to the Sardinian warbler of the Mediterranean basin and is similar to it in appearance.

<i>Curruca</i> Genus of birds

Curruca is a genus of Sylviid warblers, best represented in Europe, Africa, and Asia. All of these species were formerly placed in the genus Sylvia.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016) [errata version of 2017 assessment]. "Curruca melanothorax". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T22716963A111242444. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22716963A111242444.en . Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  2. "RSPB Mass killing continues on British military base in Cyprus". BirdGuides. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.

Further reading