Rufous-vented grass babbler

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Rufous-vented grass babbler
Rufous-vented Prinia (Laticilla burnesii) (34675407315).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Pellorneidae
Genus: Laticilla
Species:
L. burnesii
Binomial name
Laticilla burnesii
(Blyth, 1844)

The rufous-vented grass babbler or rufous-vented prinia (Laticilla burnesii) is a small warbler in the family Pellorneidae that occurs in Pakistan, northwestern India and Nepal.

Contents

Taxonomy

The rufous-vented grass babbler was described by the English zoologist Edward Blyth in 1844 under the binomial name Eurycercus burnesii. [2] [3] It is named after Alexander Burnes. [4]

Two subspecies are recognised: [5]

Description

Rufous-vented grass babblers average 17 cm (6.7 in) long with a wing length from the bend to the tip of 5.3 cm (2.1 in) (females) or 5.5 cm (2.2 in) (males) to 5.9 cm (2.3 in). Adults are a cool brown colour above except that a buffy region on the back of the neck and upper back forms a distinct collar. Bold dark streaking starts at the forehead and fades on the back. The underparts are whitish with a tawny hue and dark streaking on the flanks. The undertail coverts are bright rufous or chestnut. The upper surface of the wings has barring formed by the covert feathers and their paler fringes. The wing linings are a faintly tawny off-white. The flight feathers of the wings are greyish brown; when the wing is folded, the primaries barely extend beyond the tertials. Those of the tail may be greyish or olive-brown and have rufous tips. The tail is long 8.7 to 11.5 cm (3.4 to 4.5 in) and strongly graduated, that is, the outermost pair of feathers is only one-third as long as the central pair. The head shows a conspicuous white eye-ring, whitish lores, and dark-streaked whitish cheeks. [6]

The upper mandible is horn-brown; the lower, straw-brown or flesh-brown. The eyes are brown, varying a little in lightness. The legs are flesh-colored or pale brown. [6]

From July to September the plumage is worn, especially the tail, which may be much shorter than in fresh plumage and missing the rufous tips. The moult is usually complete by October. [6]

Juveniles are similar but have loose, fluffy plumage. They have little or no streaking on the back and their tail tips are rufous, not tawny. They molt into adult head and body plumage, retaining their flight feathers, about 4 to 6 weeks after fledging. [6]

Calls include "a wheezy feez, and a quiet, very rapid nasal rattle." The song is described as a warble about 4 seconds long, liquid and loud, comparable to that of a dunnock. [6]

Range and habitat

As treated here, this bird is found only in the plains of the Indus in Pakistan and adjacent in Punjab (India). (However, the swamp grass babbler of Assam and Bangladesh is often combined with this species.) It inhabits a variety of long grasslands, notably plains of sarkhan ( Saccharum ) but also plains of elephant grass and ekra grass, sometimes where mixed with acacias and tamarisks. It can even occur in deserts with scattered patches of tall grass, and reedbeds. It prefers the vicinity of large rivers and their tributaries or swamps. [1] [6]

Behaviour

This species skulks low in grass tussocks, hopping and threading its way through, often in small groups, feeding on insects. It usually holds its tail slightly cocked. When it flies, something that is hard to cause, it goes only to a nearby tussock. It is easiest to find in the breeding season, when it sings in the mornings and evenings. [6]

Status

The conservation status of the rufous-vented grass babbler is rated at near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is locally common or abundant in the Punjab and northern Sindh but much rarer in southern Sindh. [1]

Related Research Articles

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Prinia is a genus of small insectivorous birds belonging to the passerine bird family Cisticolidae. They were at one time classed in the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rufous-tailed scrub robin</span> Species of bird

The rufous-tailed scrub robin is a medium-sized member of the family Muscicapidae. Other common names include the rufous scrub robin, rufous bush chat, rufous bush robin and the rufous warbler. It breeds around the Mediterranean and east to Pakistan. It also breeds south of the Sahara from the Sahel region east to Somalia; these African birds are sometimes considered to be a separate species, the African scrub robin. It is partially migratory, wintering in Africa and India. This is a very rare visitor to northern Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plain prinia</span> Species of bird

The plain prinia, also known as the plain wren-warbler or white-browed wren-warbler, is a small cisticolid warbler found in southeast Asia. It is a resident breeder from Pakistan and India to south China and southeast Asia. It was formerly included in the tawny-flanked prinia, resident in Africa south of the Sahara. The two are now usually considered to be separate species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grey-breasted prinia</span> Species of bird

The grey-breasted prinia or Franklin's prinia is a wren-warbler belonging to the family of small passerine birds found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. This prinia is a resident breeder in the Indian subcontinent, Sri Lanka and southeast Asia. Like other prinias, it often holds the tail upright but it is easily told by a smoky grey band across the breast which contrasts with a white throat. The beak is all black while the legs are pink. The tail is graduated as in other prinias and the grey feathers are tipped in white. In the breeding plumage the upperparts are grey while non-breeding birds are pale above with rufous wings and a weak supercilium. It is found in scrub, forest clearings and other open but well vegetated habitats. It can be confused with the rufescent prinia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawny-bellied babbler</span> Species of bird

The tawny-bellied babbler also known in older Indian works as the rufous-bellied babbler is a small babbler that forages in small groups in low scrub forests. Like other members of the large Old World babbler family they are passerine birds characterised by soft fluffy plumage. There are three subspecies within the Indian Subcontinent. The nominate hyperythra found in northern and eastern India is uniformly brown underneath while albogularis of the western Indian peninsula is white throated. The population in Sri Lanka, phillipsi, is also white throated but is paler underneath and has a larger bill.

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

Jerdon's babbler is a passerine bird native to wetlands and grasslands of the Indian sub-continent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1994. It is a member of the genus Chrysomma of the family Paradoxornithidae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Austral canastero</span> Species of bird

The austral canastero is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina and Chile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streak-backed canastero</span> Species of bird

The streak-backed canastero is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.

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

The cricket warbler, also known as cricket longtail, scaly longtail or cricket prinia, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It belongs to the genus Spiloptila; it is often the only species included in the genus but sometimes the red-fronted prinia is placed there as well.

The swamp grass babbler or swamp prinia is a small bird of the Indian subcontinent. Some authorities consider it a subspecies of the rufous-vented grass babbler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Himalayan shrike-babbler</span> Species of bird

The Himalayan shrike-babbler is a bird subspecies found in the western Himalayas that belongs to the shrike-babbler group. The genus was once considered to be an aberrant Old World babbler and placed in the family Timaliidae until molecular phylogenetic studies showed them to be closely related to the vireos of the New World, leading to their addition in the family Vireonidae. Males and females have distinctive plumages, with the males being all black about with a cinnamon-rufous tertial patch and a distinctive white stripe running from behind the eye. The underside is whitish with some pinkish buff on the flanks. Females have a greyish head, lack the white stripe and have the upperparts and wings with greens, yellow and chestnut. The subspecies is part of a cryptic species complex that was earlier considered as one species, white-browed shrike-babbler with several subspecies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pellorneidae</span> Family of birds

The jungle babblers are a family, Pellorneidae, of mostly Old World passerine birds belonging to the superfamily Sylvioidea. They are quite diverse in size and coloration, and usually characterised by soft, fluffy plumage and a tail on average the length of their body, or longer. These birds are found in tropical zones, with the greatest biodiversity in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

<i>Laticilla</i> Genus of birds

Laticilla is a genus of small passerine birds in the family Pellorneidae. Members of the genus are found in Pakistan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh.

References

  1. 1 2 3 BirdLife International (2017). "Laticilla burnesii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2017: e.T22735835A111367374. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22735835A111367374.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Blyth (1844). "Appendix to Mr. Blyth's report for December meeting, 1842 (continued)". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 13 (Part 1): 361–395 [374].
  3. Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 130.
  4. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2014). The Eponym Dictionary of Birds. London: Bloomsbury. p. 99. ISBN   978-1-4729-0573-4.
  5. Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Babblers & fulvettas". World Bird List Version 7.3. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Baker, Kevin; Baker, Jeff (1997), Warblers of Europe, Asia, and North Africa, Christopher Helm, pp. 62–63, 220–221, ISBN   0-691-01169-9 .