Pallas's grasshopper warbler | |
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In Kolkata, West Bengal, India. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Locustellidae |
Genus: | Helopsaltes |
Species: | H. certhiola |
Binomial name | |
Helopsaltes certhiola (Pallas, 1811) | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Pallas's grasshopper warbler (Helopsaltes certhiola), 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 (Sakhalin and Kuril Islands). It is migratory, wintering from India eastward to Indonesia. It is a rare migrant in Sri Lanka.
This bird was named after the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas. The specific certhiola is a diminutive from the genus Certhia, the treecreepers. [3]
The sixth edition of Clements Checklist [4] refers to this species as "Pallas's warbler", a name more commonly used for Phylloscopus proregulus.
This small passerine bird is found in tall grass with some thicker vegetation, usually close to water in bogs or wet meadows. From 4 to 7 eggs are laid in a nest on the ground in grass. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe. One of the best places to see this skulking species as a vagrant is Fair Isle, Shetland; for a species that only rarely appears in western Europe, it can be found there with some regularity.
This is a medium-sized warbler. The adult has a streaked brown back, whitish grey underparts, unstreaked except on the undertail. The sexes are identical, as with most warblers, but young birds are yellower below. Like most warblers, it is insectivorous. It is very similar to the common grasshopper warbler, but is slightly larger, has white tips to the tail and tertial feathers, and a warmer brown rump. The white tips are the reason for its colloquial, mnemonic name of "PG Tips".
This is a skulking species which is very difficult to see except sometimes when singing. It creeps through grass and low foliage.
The song is not the mechanical insect-like reeling produced by the common grasshopper warbler and some other Locustella warblers, but an inventive Acrocephalus-like melody.
Five subspecies recognized:
The isabelline wheatear is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher in the family Muscicapidae. It is a migratory insectivorous bird. Its habitat is steppe and open countryside and it breeds in southern Russia and Central Asia to northern Pakistan, wintering in Africa and northwestern India. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
The pied wheatear is a wheatear, a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher. This migratory central Asiatic wheatear occurs from the extreme southeast of Europe to China, and has been found wintering in India and northeastern Africa. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
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 leaf warbler or Pallas's warbler, is a bird that breeds in mountain forests from southern Siberia east to northern Mongolia and northeast China. It is named for German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas, who first formally described it. This leaf warbler is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in south China and adjacent areas of southeast Asia, although in recent decades increasing numbers have been found in Europe in autumn.
The common grasshopper warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds across much of temperate Europe and the western Palearctic. It is migratory, wintering in north and west Africa.
The lanceolated warbler is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds from northeast European Russia across the Palearctic to northern Hokkaidō, Japan. It is migratory, wintering in Southeast Asia. The genus name Locustella is from Latin and is a diminutive of locusta, "grasshopper". This refers to the song of the common grasshopper warbler and some others in this genus. The specific lanceolata is Latin for "spear-shaped" and refers to the streaks on the breast.
The river warbler is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds in eastern and central Europe, and into the western Palearctic. It is migratory, wintering in inland southern Africa, from around the Zambezi River south to the vicinity of Pretoria in South Africa. The genus name Locustella is from Latin and is a diminutive of locusta, "grasshopper". This refers to the song of the common grasshopper warbler and some others in this genus. The specific fluviatilis is Latin for "of a river".
Savi's warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella. It breeds in Europe and the western Palearctic. It is migratory, wintering in northern and sub-Saharan Africa.
Cettia is a genus of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers") 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 southeast Asia.
The paddyfield warbler is a species of marsh warbler. It was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage. The Manchurian reed warbler was included in A. agricola as a subspecies.
The zitting cisticola or streaked fantail warbler is a widely distributed Old World warbler whose breeding range includes southern Europe, Africa, and southern Asia down to northern Australia. A small bird found mainly in grasslands, it is best identified by its rufous rump; as well, it lacks any gold on the collar and the brownish tail is tipped with white. During the breeding season, males have a zigzagging flight display accompanied by regular "zitting" calls that have been likened to repeated snips of a scissor. They build their pouch nest suspended within a clump of grass.
Wilson's warbler is a small New World warbler. It is greenish above and yellow below, with rounded wings and a long, slim tail. The male has a black crown patch; depending on the subspecies, that mark is reduced or absent in the female. It breeds across Canada and south through the western United States, and winters from Mexico south through much of Central America. It is a very rare vagrant to western Europe.
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 Benguet bush warbler, also known as the Benguet grasshopper-warbler, is a songbird species. Formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, it is now placed in the newly recognized family Locustellidae. L. seebohmi was formerly known as russet bush warbler, but that name is now restricted to L. mandelli, formerly included in L. seebohmi as a subspecies but now considered a separate species. It is found in the mountains of northern Luzon in the Philippines.
The Middendorff's grasshopper warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It breeds in eastern Siberia to northern Japan, Kamchatka Peninsula and northern Kuril Islands. It winters in the Philippines, Borneo and Sulawesi and in small numbers in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and the U.S.A.
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.
Sakhalin grasshopper warbler, is a species of grass warbler in the family Locustellidae; it was formerly included in the "Old World warbler" assemblage.
Helopsaltes is a genus of passerine birds in the grassbird family Locustellidae.