Cyprus warbler
| Cyprus warbler | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
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| Adult male | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Sylviidae |
| Genus: | Curruca |
| Species: | C. melanothorax
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| Binomial name | |
| Curruca melanothorax (Tristram, 1872)
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| Synonyms | |
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Sylvia melanothorax | |
The Cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax) is a typical warbler which breeds only on Cyprus.[2] This small passerine bird is a short-distance migrant, and winters in Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
The Cyprus warbler was first formally described in 1872 by the English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and ornithologist Henry Baker Tristram with its [[Type locality (biology)|type locality given as En-Gedi in Palestine.[3] It was formerly classified in the genus Sylvia but this genus is split into two distinctive clades,[4] and most of the species formerly classified in Sylvia were move to the genus Curruca.[5]
Like most Curruca 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.[6]
The Cyprus warbler is in the group of Curruca warblers centred on the Mediterranean and is most closely related to Tristram's warbler and Menetries's warbler, and less closely to the Eastern subalpine warbler, Sardinian warbler and Rüppell's warbler.[4] Both these 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.[6]
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.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ BirdLife International (2016) [errata version of 2017 assessment]. "Curruca melanothorax". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22716963A111242444. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22716963A111242444.en. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
- ^ "RSPB Mass killing continues on British military base in Cyprus". BirdGuides. Archived from the original on 20 November 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
- ^ H. B. Tristram (1872). "On a new Sylviid from Palestine". Ibis. 2 (3): 296--297. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919x.1872.tb08411.x.
- ^ a b Voelker, Gary; Light, Jessica E. (2011). "Palaeoclimatic events, dispersal and migratory losses along the Afro-European axis as drivers of biogeographic distribution in Sylvia warblers". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11 (163): 163. Bibcode:2011BMCEE..11..163V. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-11-163. PMC 3123607. PMID 21672229.
- ^ "British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee (BOURC): 52nd Report (January 2021)". Ibis. 163 (1): 305–308. 2021. doi:10.1111/ibi.12900. ISSN 0019-1019.
- ^ a b c Kevin Baker (1997). Warblers of Europe, Asia and North Africa. Christopher Helm. pp. 135–136. ISBN 0713639717.
Further reading
[edit]- The Sylvia Warblers Monograph, A & C Black, London: ‘Sylvia Warblers: Identification, Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Genus Sylvia’ (2001) by Shirihai, H., Gargallo, G., & Helbig, J. A. [Illustrated by Alan Harris; Photographic Editing and Field Photography by David Cottridge; Edited by Guy M. Kirwan and Lars Svensson.]. (Helm Identification Guides)
- 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)