Western Orphean warbler | |
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Sylviidae |
Genus: | Curruca |
Species: | C. hortensis |
Binomial name | |
Curruca hortensis (Gmelin, 1789) | |
Synonyms | |
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The western Orphean warbler (Curruca hortensis) is a typical warbler of the genus Curruca. This species occurs in summer around the Mediterranean, through western Europe and extending into northwest Africa. It is migratory, wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is a rare vagrant to northern and north-western Europe.
The English name refers to the mythical musician and singer Orpheus. The specific hortensis is Latin for "of a garden", from hortus, "garden". [2]
Two subspecies are unequivocally accepted, [3] but they are now usually considered separate species. [4] [5]
The western Orphean warbler is probably most closely allied to the Arabian warbler, as well as the brown warbler and Yemen warblers which are sometimes placed in Parisoma. They together with the lesser whitethroat group seem to form a distinct clade of typical warblers. The species therein do not appear much alike at first glance, but they all have prominent white throats, lack rufous wing-patches, and usually having dark sides to the head. [4] [5]
At 15–16 centimetres (6–6+1⁄4 in) in length – somewhat larger than a blackcap – this is one of the largest species of typical warblers. The adult males have a plain grey back and whitish underparts. The bill is long and pointed and the legs black. The male has a dark grey head, black eye mask, and white throat. The iris is white. Females and immatures have a paler head and buff underparts; their grey back has a brownish tinge. The iris is dark in young birds. The song is a series of warbling liroo-liroo and scolding notes.
These small passerine birds are found in open deciduous woodland. 4-6 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush or tree. Like most "warblers", the western Orphean warbler is an insectivore.
The barred warbler is a typical warbler which breeds across temperate regions of central and eastern Europe and western and central Asia. This passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical eastern Africa.
The common whitethroat or greater whitethroat is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan.
The Sardinian warbler is a common and widespread typical warbler from the Mediterranean region. Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has a grey back, whitish underparts, black head, white throat and red eyes. Plumages are somewhat variable even in the same locality, with the intensity of a reddish hue on upper- and/or underside that varies from absent to pronounced. The female is mainly brown above and buff below, with a grey head. The Sardinian warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is very characteristic of the Mediterranean areas where this bird breeds.
The western subalpine warbler is a small typical warbler which breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe and north-western Africa.
The Cyprus warbler is a typical warbler which breeds only on Cyprus. This small passerine bird is a short-distance migrant, and winters in Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
The lesser whitethroat is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in the western and central Palearctic. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, wintering in Africa just south of the Sahara, Arabia and India.
The Dartford warbler is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is dull reddish-brown below except for the centre of the belly which has a dirty white patch. It has light speckles on the throat and a red eye-ring. The sexes are similar but the adult female is usually less grey above and paler below.
Balearic warbler is a typical warbler, genus Curruca. It is endemic to the Balearic Islands, apart from Menorca. It groups with the Marmora's warbler, Tristram's warbler and the Dartford warbler.
Rüppell's warbler is a typical warbler of the genus Curruca. It breeds in Greece, Turkey and neighbouring islands. It is migratory, wintering in northeast Africa. This is a rare vagrant to western Europe. The name is occasionally cited as "Rueppell's warbler".
Marmora's warbler is a typical warbler in the Sylviidae family. The specific sarda is a Latin feminine form for a person from Sardinia.
The spectacled warbler is a species in the typical warbler genus, Curruca. The specific conspicillata is from Latin conspicillum, a place to look from, equivalent to "spectacled".
The eastern Orphean warbler is a typical warbler of the genus Curruca. This species occurs in summer around the Mediterranean, through the Balkans via Turkey, the Caucasus and surrounding regions to Central Asia. It is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa.
The eastern subalpine warbler is a small typical warbler which breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe. It was first described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name Motacilla cantillans. The specific cantillans is Latin for "warbling" from canere, "to sing".
Hume's whitethroat is a species of typical warbler. Until recently, it was considered conspecific with the lesser whitethroat as some authorities now reinstate. These are seen as members of a superspecies which also includes the desert whitethroat. The present species together with the aridland desert whitethroat(s) seems to form an Asian lineage in the superspecies.
The desert whitethroat is a typical warbler. Until recently, it was considered conspecific with the lesser whitethroat as some authorities now reinstate. These are seen as members of a superspecies. The desert whitethroat together with Hume's whitethroat form an Asian lineage in the superspecies, which have diverged into species adapted to drier lowlands and moister mountain habitats respectively. The name small whitethroat has also been used by some authors, and desert lesser whitethroat before it was split from lesser whitethroat.
The chestnut-vented warbler, chestnut-vented tit-babbler or rufous-vented warbler is an Old World warbler.
Menetries's warbler or Ménétries's warbler is a small passerine bird of Southwest Asia belonging to the genus Curruca. The name of the species commemorates Édouard Ménétries, the French zoologist who described the species in 1832. It is closely related to the Sardinian warbler of the Mediterranean basin and is similar to it in appearance.
Curruca is a genus of Sylviid warblers, best represented in Europe, Africa, and Asia. All of these species were formerly placed in the genus Sylvia.