Sri Lanka bush warbler

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Sri Lanka bush warbler
Flickr - Rainbirder - Ceylon bush warbler (Bradypterus palliseri) (cropped).jpg
In Horton Plains, Sri Lanka
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Locustellidae
Genus: Elaphrornis
Legge, 1879
Species:
E. palliseri
Binomial name
Elaphrornis palliseri
(Blyth, 1851)
Synonyms
  • Bradypterus palliseri

The Sri Lanka bush warbler (Elaphrornis palliseri), 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.

Contents

Taxonomy

The Sri Lanka bush warbler has sometimes been placed in the genus Bradypterus and a 2018 study confirms that it is a sister to the clade that contains the Bradypterus and Megalurus warblers; [2] it appears to be closely related to that genus, but differs in structure (relatively shorter-tailed and longer-billed), plumage (unmarked) and song. It is monotypic. [3] The species is named after the collector Captain Edward Palliser (1826-1907). Edward and his brother Fred Palliser were both collectors in Sri Lanka. The species was described by Kelaart but published by Edward Blyth in 1851. [4]

Distribution

The Sri Lanka bush warbler is a bird of dense forest undergrowth, often close to water. It is found in the highlands of central Sri Lanka, usually above 1200 m. The nest is built in a shrub, and two eggs are laid.

Description

This is a medium-large warbler at 14 cm. The adult has a plain brown back, pale grey underparts, a broad tail and short wings. There is a weak supercilium, and the throat is tinged orange. The sexes are identical, as with most warblers, but young birds lack the throat colouration.

The Sri Lanka bush warbler is a skulking species which can be very difficult to see. Perhaps the best site is Horton Plains National Park. It keeps low in vegetation and, like most warblers, it is insectivorous.

Males are often only detected by the loud song, which has an explosive queet.

Related Research Articles

<i>Bradypterus</i> Genus of birds

Bradypterus is a genus of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers") in the newly recognized grass warbler family (Locustellidae). 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 through the warm regions from Africa around the Indian Ocean and far into Asia.

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

Blyth's reed warbler is an Old World warbler in the genus Acrocephalus. It breeds in the Palearctic and easternmost Europe. It is migratory, wintering in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. It is one of the most common winter warblers in those countries. It is a rare vagrant to western Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden-fronted leafbird</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-faced malkoha</span> Species of bird

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

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<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">Jungle prinia</span> Species of bird

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

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-naped woodpecker</span> Species of bird

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellow-eared bulbul</span> Species of bird

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

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<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">Dark-fronted babbler</span> Species of bird

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

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streak-throated swallow</span> Species of song bird

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

The Taiwan bush warbler is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found only in Taiwan. Its natural habitat is undergrowth and grassland 1,200–3,000 m (3,900–9,800 ft) in elevation. It was first recorded in 1917 and named as a distinct species in 2000. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.

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

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.

<i>Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide</i> Two-volume ornithological handbook by Pamela Rasmussen and John Anderton

Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide by Pamela C. Rasmussen and John C. Anderton is a two-volume ornithological handbook, covering the birds of South Asia, published in 2005 by the Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. The geographical scope of the book covers India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, the Chagos Archipelago and Afghanistan. In total, 1508 species are covered. Two notable aspects of Birds of South Asia are its distribution evidence-base — the book's authors based their distributional information almost completely on museum specimens — and its taxonomic approach, involving a large number of species-level splits.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Elaphrornis palliseri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T22714545A94419998. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22714545A94419998.en . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. Alström, Per; Cibois, Alice; Irestedt, Martin; Zuccon, Dario; Gelang, Magnus; Fjeldså, Jon; Andersen, Michael J.; Moyle, Robert G.; Pasquet, Eric (2018). "Comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the grassbirds and allies (Locustellidae) reveals extensive non-monophyly of traditional genera, and a proposal for a new classification". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127: 367–375. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2018.03.029. ISSN   1055-7903. PMID   29625229. S2CID   4645834.
  3. "Sri Lankan Bush-warbler (Elaphrornis palliseri) | the Internet Bird Collection". ibc.lynxeds.com. Archived from the original on 2009-12-27.
  4. Blyth, E. (1851). "Report on the mammalia and more remarkable species of birds inhabiting Ceylon". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 20: 153–185.