Tesia

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Tesia
Tesia everetti Brian Small.jpg
Russet-capped tesia (Tesia everetti)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cettiidae
Genus: Tesia
Hodgson, 1837
Type species
Tesia cyaniventer [1]
Hodgson, 1837
Tesia distribution map.png

The tesias are a genus, Tesia, of Old World warbler. Though once included in the large family Sylviidae, more recent research placed it within a new family, Cettiidae. [2] The four species inhabit undergrowth of montane forest in South and Southeast Asia, where they are resident or short-range migrants. They have longish legs and appear tailless, with (seemingly) only 8 rectrices. [3] Their simple songs are fairly loud, and their nests are typically ball-shaped. Their name is derived from Tisi, the Nepalese name for the grey-bellied tesia (Tesia cyaniventer). [3]

Contents

Taxonomy

The genus Tesia was erected in 1837 by the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson. [4] The name is from the Nepalese word Tisi for the grey-bellied tesia. [5] The type species was designated as the grey-bellied tesia (Tesia cyaniventer) by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1847. [6] [7] The chestnut-headed tesia was formerly included in the genus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2011 found that the chestnut-headed tesia was embedded in a clade containing members of the genus Cettia . The species was therefore moved but retained the same common name. [8]

Range and diversity

The genus has a disjunct distribution in South and South East Asia. The three northern species range widely across southern China, Burma, Northern Thailand and Laos and into India, southern Nepal and Vietnam; whereas the other two species are found in Java and the Lesser Sundas in southern Indonesia. The russet-capped tesia was once considered to be a race of the Timor stubtail, Urosphena subulata. The three northern species are sometimes known as ground-warblers. [9]

Description

Tesias are tiny ground-living warblers which range in length from 7–10 cm and weigh between 6-12 g. [9] They have long legs and an upright stance, and appear to almost lack a tail, as their tail rectrices are shorter than the tail coverts. [10] The plumage of the northern species is olive backs and wings and grey bellies (darker slate in the slaty-bellied tesia); the southern species have brown wings and backs. All species have an eye-stripe and all except the slaty-bellied tesia have a supercilium; this is most prominent in the Javan tesia. The plumage of the chestnut-headed tesia is different from the other species; it has a bright yellow belly, chest and throat, and a deep chestnut coloured head and an incomplete white orbital ring. It lacks the facial stripes of the other species. The bill of all species is long and bicoloured, [10] with a dark upper mandible and a flesh-coloured lower one, as well as strong ridge on the upper mandible.

Habits

Grey-bellied tesia in India Tesia cyaniventer.jpg
Grey-bellied tesia in India

Tesias live in the undergrowth of forest, usually montane broadleaf forest. [9] They have a preference for damp forest, and are often found near water, particularly the Chestnut-headed and slaty-bellied tesias, although they use a range of microhabitats within the forest, including patches of bamboo or nettles. The three northern species are altitudinal migrants, breeding up to 4,000 m but wintering as low as 150 m. The two southern species are resident within their range.

The tesias are active insectivores that usually feed near the ground amongst the undergrowth and leaf litter, but may forage as high as 25 m off the ground (in the case of the russet-capped tesia) amongst the tangle of creepers on large tree trunks. [9] The slaty-bellied tesia will move leaves around in the manner of a thrush while foraging, and the grey-bellied tesia has been recorded joining mixed-species feeding flocks in the non-breeding season.

Breeding

There is little information about the breeding biology of the tesias, only three species, the Grey-bellied, Chestnut-headed and Javan, have even had their nests described. [9] They are seasonal breeders, with the Grey-bellied and russet-capped tesias nesting in May–July, and the Javan tesia having two seasons, April–June and October to December. The nest is a ball of moss for the grey-bellied tesia and plant fibres, moss and roots, and is fixed into vegetation or moss on the side of a tree, low down. The clutch size of the grey-bellied tesia is 3-5 eggs, but only 2 eggs for the Javan tesia and chestnut-headed tesia. In the chestnut-headed tesia both sexes incubate the clutch; this species is also known to occasionally be parasitized by the lesser cuckoo.

Status

None of the tesias are considered to be threatened by human activities, and are all listed as least concern by the IUCN. Even the island species, which have restricted ranges, are described as common within their ranges. [11]

Species

The four species are: [12]

ImageCommon NameScientific nameDistribution
Slaty-bellied tesia Tesia olivea Bhutan to north Vietnam
Tesia cyaniventer.jpg Grey-bellied tesia Tesia cyaniventernorth India to south Vietnam
Javan tesia Tesia superciliariswest Java, Indonesia
Russet-capped tesia Tesia everetti Sumbawa & Flores islands, east Indonesia

Related Research Articles

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.

<i>Cettia</i> Genus of birds

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.

<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">Tailorbird</span> Genus of birds

Tailorbirds are small birds, most belonging to the genus Orthotomus. While they were often placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, recent research suggests they more likely belong in the Cisticolidae and they are treated as such in Del Hoyo et al. One former species, the mountain tailorbird, is actually closer to an old world warbler genus Cettia.

Sattal or Sat Tal is an interconnected group of seven freshwater lakes situated in the Lower Himalayan Range near Bhimtal, a town of the Nainital district in Uttarakhand, India. During the British Raj, the area had a tea plantation, one of four in the Kumaon area at that time.

<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.

<i>Seicercus</i> Genus of birds

Seicercus is a genus of Old World warbler formerly in the family Sylviidae but now placed in Phylloscopidae. Recent scientific studies have recommended synonymizing this genus with Phylloscopus, and are placed there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chestnut-headed tesia</span> Species of bird

The chestnut-headed tesia is a small insectivorous songbird formerly of the "Old World warbler" family but nowadays placed in the bush warbler family (Cettiidae).

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

The grey-bellied tesia is a species of warbler in the family Cettiidae.

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

The Javan tesia is a species of Old World warbler in the family Cettiidae. It is endemic to Java in Indonesia. The Javan tesia is a small tesia with long legs and almost no tail. It feeds on insects in the undergrowth of broadleaf forest.

<i>Urosphena</i> Genus of birds

Urosphena is a genus of Old World warblers in the family Cettiidae, formerly classified in the family Sylviidae. The genus was erected by Robert Swinhoe in 1877.

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

The Bornean stubtail is a species of bird in the cettiid warbler family Cettiidae. It is endemic to the island of Borneo, where it inhabits forest floors and undergrowth in montane forests at elevations of 750–3,150 m (2,460–10,330 ft). It is a small, short-tailed warbler, measuring 9.5–10 cm (3.7–3.9 in) in length and having an average mass of 10.4 g (0.37 oz). The tops of the head and the upperparts are brown, with whitish underparts that turn grey at the sides of the breast and the flanks. The supercilium is long and buffish-brown, with an equally long dark grey eyestripe and a thin yellow eye-ring. Both sexes are similar.

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

Cettiidae is a newly validated family of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler "wastebin" assemblage. It contains the typical bush warblers (Cettia) and their relatives. As a common name, cettiid warblers is usually used.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvioidea</span> Superfamily of birds

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.

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

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.

<i>Horornis</i> Genus of birds

Horornis 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 occurs from southeast Asia throughout the western Pacific. The most recently described species is the Bougainville bush warbler from Bougainville Island.

<i>Phyllergates</i> Genus of birds

The species of tailorbirds listed below are small birds of the genus Phyllergates . They were previously placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae. However, recent research suggests they more likely belong in the Cettiidae.

References

  1. ↑ "Scotocercidae". aviansystematics.org. The Trust for Avian Systematics. Retrieved 2023-07-15.
  2. ↑ Alström, P.; Ericson, P.G.P.; Olsson, U. & Sundberg, P. (2006): Phylogeny and classification of the avian superfamily Sylvioidea. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 38(2): 381–397. doi : 10.1016/j.ympev.2005.05.015 PMID   16054402
  3. 1 2 Kennerley, Peter; Pearson, Pearson (2010). Reed and Bush Warblers. London: A & C Black. pp. 541–550. ISBN   9781408134016.
  4. ↑ Hodgson, Brian Houghton (1837). "On three new genera or sub-genera of long-legged thrushes, with descriptions of their species". Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. 6 (1): 101–104 [101].
  5. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . London: Christopher Helm. p.  382. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. ↑ Gray, George Robert (1840). A List of the Genera of Birds : with an Indication of the Typical Species of Each Genus. London: R. and J.E. Taylor. p. 27.
  7. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 5.
  8. ↑ Alström, P.; Höhna, S.; Gelang, M.; Ericson, P.G.; Olsson, U. (2011). "Non-monophyly and intricate morphological evolution within the avian family Cettiidae revealed by multilocus analysis of a taxonomically densely sampled dataset". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11 (1): 352. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-11-352 . PMC   3261208 . PMID   22142197.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Franz Bairlein, Per Alström, Raül Aymí, Peter Clement, Andrzej Dyrcz, Gabriel Gargallo, Frank Hawkins, Steve Madge, David Pearson & Lars Svensson "Family Sylviidae (Old World Warblers)" in del Hoyo, J.; Elliot, A. & Christie D. (editors). (2006). Handbook of the Birds of the World.Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers. Lynx Edicions. ISBN   84-96553-06-X.
  10. 1 2 Captain J. Delacour (1942) "The Bush-Warblers of the Genera Cettia and Bradypterus, with Notes on Allied Genera and Species". Ibis84 (4): 509-519, doi : 10.1111/j.1474-919X.1942.tb03450.x
  11. ↑ IUCN (2007). IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Tesia. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 27 April 2008.
  12. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (2020). "Cupwings, crombecs, bush warblers, Streaked Scrub Warbler, yellow flycatchers, hylias". IOC World Bird List Version 10.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
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