Grass-warbler

Grass-warblers
Locustella luscinioides
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Superfamily:	Sylvioidea
Clade:	Acrocephalus group
Family:	Locustellidae
Genus:	Locustella Kaup, 1829
Species
See text.

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 Locustellidae.

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.

Species

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.

• Lanceolated Warbler, Locustella lanceolata
• Bamboo Warbler, Locustella alfredi
• River Warbler, Locustella fluviatilis
• Savi's Warbler, Locustella luscinoides
• Brown Bush-Warbler, Locustella luteoventris
• Chinese Bush-Warbler, Locustella tacsanowskia
• Common Grasshopper-Warbler, Locustella naevia
• Long-billed Bush-Warbler, Locustella major
• Friendly Bush-Warbler, Locustella accentor
• Long-tailed Bush-Warbler, Locustella caudata
• Chestnut-backed Bush-Warbler, Locustella castanea
• Baikal Bush-Warbler, Locustella davidi
• Spotted Bush-Warbler, Locustella thoracica
• West Himalayan Bush-Warbler, Locustella kashmirensis
• Taiwan Bush-Warbler, Locustella alishanensis
• Benguet Bush-warbler, Locustella seebohmi
• Javan Bush-warbler, Locustella montis
  • Timor Bush-warbler, Locustella montis timorensis
• Sichuan Bush-Warbler, Locustella chengi
• Russet Bush-Warbler, Locustella mandelli
• Dalat Bush-Warbler, Locustella idonea

Moved to Helopsaltes

• Gray's Grasshopper-Warbler, Helopsaltes fasciolata
• Sakhalin Grasshopper-Warbler, Helopsaltes amnicola
• Marsh Grassbird, Helopsaltes pryeri
• Styan's Grasshopper-Warbler, Helopsaltes pleskei
• Pallas's Grasshopper-Warbler, Helopsaltes certhiola
• Middendorf's Grasshopper-Warbler, Helopsaltes ochotensis

References

• Drovetski, S.V., Zink, R.M., Fadeev, I.V., Nesterov, E.V., Koblik, Ye.A, Red’kin, Ya.A., and Rohwer, S. 2004. Mitochondrial phylogeny of Locustella and related genera. Journal of Avian Biology 35: 105-110 doi:10.1111/j.0908-8857.2004.03217.x
• 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.

This article is part of Project Bird Genera, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each genus, including made-up genera.

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