The booted warbler (''Iduna caligata'') is an

Old World warbler 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 ci ...

in the

tree warbler Tree warblers are medium-sized warblers in the marsh- and tree-warbler family Acrocephalidae. They are found in Europe, Africa and western Asia. Until recently, they were all classified in the single genus ''Hippolais''. These warblers are ass ...

group. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with

Sykes's warbler Sykes's warbler (''Iduna rama'') is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler family. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the booted warbler, but is now considered a full species. Its breeding range is from northeast Arabia to Turkestan, ...

, but the two are now usually both afforded species status. Booted warbler itself breeds from central

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

to western

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, and migrates to winter in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n subcontinent as far south as

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Booted warbler has expanded its breeding range westward in recent decades and nests now as far west and north as

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. It is a small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by t ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

, found in open country with bushes and other tall vegetation. Three or four eggs are laid in a nest in a bush or vegetation. Like most warblers they are insectivorous. These are small warblers, especially compared to others in their genus. They are pale brown above and whitish below with buff flanks. The outer tail feathers have pale edges. They have a short pale

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also ...

, and the bill is strong and pointed. Sykes's warbler is larger and greyer than the booted warbler, and most resembles an

eastern olivaceous warbler The eastern olivaceous warbler (''Iduna pallida'') is a small passerine bird with drab plumage tones, that is native to the Old World. For the most part it breeds in southeastern Europe, the Middle East and adjacent western Asia, and winters in t ...

. Keyserling and Blasius gave no explanation of the genus name ''Iduna'', though in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

Iðunn In Norse mythology, Iðunn is a goddess associated with apples and youth. Iðunn is attested in the ''Poetic Edda'', compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ''Prose Edda'', written in the 13th century by Snorri St ...

, or Iduna, is the goddess of spring and fertility who was changed into a sparrow (or a nut) to enable her rescue by

Loki Loki is a god in Norse mythology. According to some sources, Loki is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mentioned as a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi or Na ...

. The specific ''caligata'' is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "booted" from ''caliga'', "boot".

Gallery

File:Booted Warbler, Iduna caligata.jpg, Booted warbler seen in

Udumalpet Udumalai, also known as Udumalaipettai and Udumalpet (), is a town in Tiruppur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Udumalaipettai is located 535 km (332 mi) south west from the state capital, Chennai and 72 km (45 mi) away from Coimbator ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

File:Iduna caligata MHNT ZOO 2010 11 201 Pérowsk.jpg, Eggs of ''Iduna caligata'' MHNT File:Booted warbler (Iduna caligata).jpg, Booted warbler (''Iduna caligata''), Palakkad, Kerala, India

References

booted warbler Birds of Russia booted warbler {{Acrocephalidae-stub