Winifred's warbler

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Winifred's warbler
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Cisticolidae
Genus: Scepomycter
Species:
S. winifredae
Binomial name
Scepomycter winifredae
(Moreau, 1938) [2]
Synonyms

Bathmocercus winifredae

Winifred's warbler (Scepomycter winifredae), also known as Mrs. Moreau's warbler, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. The species was first recorded and named by the ornithologist Reginald Moreau after his wife.

The species was originally described in the genus Artisornis based on an immature male specimen. The species was found in the Kinole forest north of Uluguru in eastern Tanzania. The bird is mostly olive green above with the forehead and crown being rufous brown as are the sides of the head and chest. The chin is whitish. [3]

Moreau later moved it to the genus Scepomycter after examining museum specimens and obtaining new specimens of adults through his collector Charles Abdallah who lured the specimens by imitating the low whistles of a Malaconotus. [4] The genus Scepomycter was traditionally considered monotypic, but in 2009 a closely related new species was described, the Rubeho warbler. [5]

Alternatively, the Winifred's warbler has sometimes been included in the genus Bathmocercus with which it forms a clade that is a sister of the genus Cisticola. [6] [7] It is endemic to montane forest in the Uluguru Mountains in Tanzania. Populations in the Rubeho-Ukaguru Mountains are the very similar Rubeho warbler, and the status as near threatened. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Related Research Articles

Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. 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 family of warblers, together with some babblers formerly placed in the family Timaliidae and the parrotbills, are retained in a much smaller family Sylviidae.

Typical warbler Genus of birds

The typical warblers are small birds belonging to the genus Sylvia in the "Old World warbler" family Sylviidae.

<i>Prinia</i> Genus of birds

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.

Old World babbler Family of birds

The Old World babblers or Timaliidae are a family of mostly Old World passerine birds. They are rather diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage. These are birds of tropical areas, with the greatest variety in Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The timaliids are one of two unrelated groups of birds known as babblers, the other being the Australasian babblers of the family Pomatostomidae.

Cisticolidae Family of birds

The family Cisticolidae is a group of about 160 warblers, small passerine birds found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They were formerly included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae.

Sri Lanka bush warbler Species of bird

The Sri Lanka bush warbler, 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.

<i>Apalis</i> Genus of birds

The apalises are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Apalis, in the family Cisticolidae. They are found in forest, woodlands and scrub across most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They are slender birds with long tails and have a slender bill for catching insects. They are typically brown, grey or green above and several species have brightly coloured underparts. Males and females are usually similar in appearance but the males are sometimes brighter.

Black-headed rufous warbler Species of bird

The black-headed rufous warbler, also known as the black-capped rufous warbler, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical swampland, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Broad-tailed grassbird Species of bird

The broad-tailed grassbird is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats of India with a possibility of occurrence in Sri Lanka. A small, mostly brown bird, it has a broad rounded and graduated tail. It is found only on the higher altitude grassy hills where it usually skulks, except during the breeding season when males fly up into the air to sing in their display. The species is believed to be a resident although it is possible that they make local movements.

Locustellidae 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>Camaroptera</i> Genus of birds

Camaroptera is a genus of small passerine birds in the family Cisticolidae that are found in sub-Saharan Africa.

Red-winged prinia Species of bird

The red-winged prinia or the red-winged warbler is a bird species in the family Cisticolidae. It formerly belonged in the monotypic genus Heliolais. It is found in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, where its natural habitat is dry savanna.

Socotra warbler Species of bird

The Socotra warbler is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is monotypic within the genus Incana. It is endemic to Socotra. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry shrubland and subtropical or tropical high-altitude shrubland. It is threatened by habitat loss.

Red-fronted prinia Species of bird

The red-fronted prinia, also known as the red-fronted warbler and the red-faced apalis, is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its natural habitat is dry savanna.

Sylvioidea 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.

Scepomycter is a genus of threatened birds in the family Cisticolidae. The two species are endemic to highland forests in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. They are small, mainly grey birds with a reddish-orange head.

Artisornis is a genus of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It contains the following species:

The Rubeho warbler is a threatened species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in highland forests in the Rubeho–Ukaguru Mountains in Tanzania. This cryptic species was only described in 2009; it having traditionally been included in the closely related Winifred's warbler.

Pellorneidae Family of birds

The jungle babblers, Pellorneidae, are 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>Spinus</i> (bird) Genus of birds

Spinus is a genus of passerine birds in the finch family. It contains the North and South American siskins and goldfinches, as well as two Old World species. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek σπίνοςspínos, a name for a now-unidentifiable bird.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2021). "Scepomycter winifredae". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2021: e.T22714578A179512754. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. Moreau, R.E. (1938). "Artisornis winifredae, sp. nov". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 58: 139.
  3. Moreau, R.E. (1938). "A new Artisornis". Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 58: 139.
  4. Moreau, R.E. (1946). "The adult of Mrs Moreau's Warbler". Bull. Brit. Orn. Club. 66: 44.
  5. Bowie, Rauri C. K.; Fjeldsa, Jon; Kiure, Jacob (2009). "Multilocus molecular DNA variation in Winifred's Warbler Scepomycter winifredae suggests cryptic speciation and the existence of a threatened species in the Rubeho-Ukaguru Mountains of Tanzania". Ibis. 151 (4): 709–719. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.2009.00954.x. ISSN   0019-1019.
  6. Olsson, Urban; Irestedt, Martin; Sangster, George; Ericson, Per G.P.; Alström, Per (2013). "Systematic revision of the avian family Cisticolidae based on a multi-locus phylogeny of all genera". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 66 (3): 790–799. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.11.004. ISSN   1055-7903. PMID   23159891.
  7. Nguembock, Billy; Fjeldså, Jon; Tillier, Annie; Pasquet, Eric (2007). "A phylogeny for the Cisticolidae (Aves: Passeriformes) based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequence data, and a re-interpretation of an unique nest-building specialization". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 42 (1): 272–286. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2006.07.008. ISSN   1055-7903. PMID   16949311.