Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. They are not closely related to the New World warblers. 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 Cisticolidae and the kinglets into Regulidae. In the past ten years they have been the subject of much research and many species are now placed into other families, including the Acrocephalidae, Cettiidae, Phylloscopidae, and Megaluridae. In addition some species have been moved into existing families or have not yet had their placement fully resolved. A smaller number of warblers, together with some babblers formerly placed in the family Timaliidae and the parrotbills, are retained in a much smaller family Sylviidae.
The grass warblers are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Locustella. Formerly placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warbler" assemblage, they are now considered the northernmost representatives of a largely Gondwanan family, the Locustellidae.
Pallas's grasshopper warbler, also known as the rusty-rumped warbler, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Helopsaltes. It breeds in the eastern Palearctic: from the Altai Mountains, Mongolia and Transbaikalia to northeastern China, the Korean Peninsula, and islands in the Sea of Okhotsk. It is migratory, wintering from India eastward to Indonesia. It is a rare migrant in Sri Lanka.
Gray's grasshopper warbler, also known as Gray's warbler, is a species of grass warbler in the family Locustellidae; it was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage.
The Sri Lanka bush warbler, also known as Ceylon bush warbler or Palliser's warbler, is an Old World warbler which is an endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka, where it is the only bush warbler.
The bristled grassbird is a small passerine bird in the genus Schoenicola. Also known as the bristled grass warbler, this species is endemic to the Indian subcontinent, where it is patchily distributed in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan. These insectivorous birds skulk in dense and tall grasslands, often in marshy areas, habitats that are threatened by human activities. Formerly considered to be sedentary, the species may be migratory, moving south and east in the Indian peninsula during winter and returning to their breeding grounds in the northern plains south of the Himalayas.
Cincloramphus is a genus of birds in the grassbird family Locustellidae.
Styan's grasshopper warbler, also known as Pleske's grasshopper warbler and Taczanowski's warbler, is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It breeds in eastern Siberia to Korea, Kyushu and Izu Islands; wintering in South China. Its natural habitats are temperate shrubland, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and swamps. It is threatened by habitat loss. Its name recognises the naturalist and collector, Frederick William Styan.
The little grassbird is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found in Australia and in West Papua, Indonesia. These sexually monomorphic birds are found in reed beds, rushes, lignum swamps and salt marshes of Southeastern Australia.
The striated grassbird is an "Old World warbler" species in the family Locustellidae. It was formerly placed in the family Sylviidae. It is now the only species placed in the genus Megalurus.
The marsh grassbird, also known as the Japanese swamp warbler, is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found in China, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, and Russia.
The fan-tailed grassbird or broad-tailed warbler is an African species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. The species is closely related to the broad-tailed grassbird of India, and is sometimes treated as the same species, although a 2018 study found that it and the broad-tailed grassbird were not closely related, with the Indian species being a sister of Chaetornis striata.
Schoenicola is a genus of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. There are two species, both from peninsular India. The genus has been placed in the subfamily Megalurinae.
The broad-tailed grassbird is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India with a possibility of occurrence in Sri Lanka. A small, mostly brown bird, it has a broad rounded and graduated tail. It is found only on the higher altitude grassy hills where it usually skulks, except during the breeding season when males fly up into the air to sing in their display. The species is believed to be a resident although it is possible that they make local movements.
Locustellidae is a newly recognized family of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers"), 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. The family name is sometimes given as Megaluridae, but Locustellidae has priority.
Sylvioidea is a superfamily of passerine birds, 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 and bulbuls. Members of the clade are found worldwide, but fewer species are present in the Americas.
The African warblers are a newly erected family Macrosphenidae, of African songbirds. Most of the species were formerly placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, although one species, the rockrunner, was placed in the babbler family, Timaliidae. A series of molecular studies of the Old World warblers and other bird families in the superfamily Sylvioidea found that the African warblers were not part of Sylviidae but were instead an early (basal) offshoot of the entire clade Sylvioidea. Some taxonomic authorities place the entire family Hyliidae here.
Sakhalin grasshopper warbler, is a species of grass warbler in the family Locustellidae; it was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage.
Robsonius is a genus of passerine birds in the family Locustellidae. The genus was introduced by the English ornithologist Nigel J. Collar in 2006 with the Cordillera ground warbler as the type species. The name was chosen to honour the British ornithologist Craig R. Robson.
Poodytes is a genus of passerine birds in the grassbird family Locustellidae.
