Grass-warbler
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Locustella certhiola |
The grass-warblers are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Locustella. Formerly placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warbler" assemblage, they are now considered the northernmost representatives of a largely Gondwanan family, the Megaluridae.
These are rather drab brownish "warblers" usually associated with fairly open grassland, shrubs or marshes. Some are streaked, others plain, all are difficult to view. They are insectivorous.
The most characteristic feature of this group is that the song of several species is a mechanical insect-like reeling which gives rise to the group's scientific name.
Species breeding in temperate regions are strongly migratory.
The nine species are:
- Savi's Warbler, Locustella luscinoides
- Pallas's Grasshopper-warbler, Locustella certhiola
- Middendorf's Grasshopper-warbler, Locustella ochotensis
- Lanceolated Warbler, Locustella lanceolata
- River Warbler Locustella fluviatilis
- Gray's Grasshopper-warbler, Locustella fasciolata
- Grasshopper Warbler, Locustella naevia
- Styan's Grasshopper-warbler, Locustella pleskei
- Japanese Swamp Warbler, Locustella pryeri
A fossil acrocoracoid from the Late Miocene (about 11 mya) of Rudabánya (NE Hungary) is quite similar to this bone in the present genus (Bernor et al. 2002). Given its rather early age (most Passerida genera are not known until the Pliocene), it is not too certain that it is correctly placed here, but it is highly likely to belong to the Megaluridae at the least. As the grass-warblers are the only known megalurid warblers from Europe, it is still quite likely that the bone piece belongs to a basal Locustella.
[edit] References
- Bernor, R.L.; Kordos, L. & Rook, L. (eds): Recent Advances on Multidisciplinary Research at Rudabánya, Late Miocene (MN9), Hungary: A compendium. Paleontographica Italiana 89: 3-36. PDF fulltext
- 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 849655306X.
