Cyprus Warbler

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Cyprus Warbler

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Sylviidae
Genus:	Sylvia
Species:	S. melanothorax

Binomial name

Sylvia melanothorax
Tristram, 1872, En-Gedi, Palestine

The Cyprus Warbler, Sylvia melanothorax, is a typical warbler which breeds on Cyprus. This small passerine bird is a short-distance migrant, and winters in Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Like most Sylvia species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male is a small typical warbler with a grey back, black head, white malar streaks ("moustaches"), and, uniquely among typical warblers, underparts heavily streaked with black. The female is mainly grey above, with a greyer head, and whitish with only light spotting. The Cyprus Warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is similar to that of the Sardinian Warbler.

Together with Rüppell's Warbler it forms a superspecies with dark throats, white malar streaks and light remiges fringes. This in turn is related to the species of Mediterranean and Middle East Sylvia warblers that have a naked eye-ring, namely the Subalpine Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Menetries' Warbler. Both groups have a white malar area, but this may not form a clear streak in the latter group; above the white, the heads of males are uniformly dark.(Helbig 2001, Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006)

This is a bird of dry open country, often on hill slopes, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or gorse, and 3-5 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries.

[edit] References

BirdLife International (2004). Sylvia melanothorax. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

Helbig, A. J. (2001): Phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Sylvia. In: Shirihai, Hadoram: Sylvia warblers: 24-25^{[verification needed]}. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. ISBN 0691088330

Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). Zool. Scripta 35(2): 149–186. doi::10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00221.x (HTML abstract)