''Bradypterus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of small

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 500 ...

s ("

warbler Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

s") in the newly recognized grass warbler

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

(

Locustellidae Locustellidae is a newly recognized family of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler "wastebin" family. It contains the grass warblers, grassbirds, and the ''Bradypterus'' "bush warblers". These bird ...

). They were formerly placed in the

Sylviidae Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers and a number of babblers formerly placed within the Old World babbler family. They are found in Eurasia and Africa. Taxonomy and systematics The scientific name Sylviid ...

, which at that time was a

wastebin taxon Wastebasket taxon (also called a wastebin taxon, dustbin taxon or catch-all taxon) is a term used by some taxonomists to refer to a taxon that has the sole purpose of classifying organisms that do not fit anywhere else. They are typically defined ...

for the warbler-like

Sylvioidea Sylvioidea is a superfamily of passerine birds, one of at least three major clades within the Passerida along with the Muscicapoidea and Passeroidea. It contains about 1300 species including the Old World warblers, Old World babblers, swallows ...

. The range of this genus extends through the warm regions from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

around the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

and far into

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. The locustellid bush warblers are related to the grass warblers of '' Locustella'' and '' Megalurus'', but share lifestyle and related

adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...

s and

apomorph In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

ies with bush warblers in the family

Cettiidae Cettiidae is a newly validated family of small insectivorous songbirds ("warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler "wastebin" assemblage. It contains the typical bush warblers (''Cettia'') and their relatives. As a common name, cetti ...

. These belong to an older lineage of Sylvioidea. Both "bush warbler" genera are smallish birds well adapted to climbing among

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

bery. They are markedly long-tailed birds, at first glance somewhat reminiscent of

wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...

s. These are quite terrestrial birds, which live in densely vegetated

habitats In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

like thick forest and reedbeds. They will walk away from disturbance rather than flush. The

plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...

similarities and skulking lifestyle make these birds hard to see and identify. Locustellid bush warblers tend towards greyish browns above and buffish or light grey tones below. They have little patterning apart from the ubiquitous

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 ...

. Altogether, they appear much like the plainer species among '' Acrocephalus'' marsh-warblers in coloration. Cettiid bush warblers tend to be somewhat more compact, with less pointed tails, but are otherwise very similar.

Species

This genus has been recently revised. The

Sri Lanka bush warbler The Sri Lanka bush warbler (''Elaphrornis palliseri''), also known as Ceylon bush warbler or Palliser's warbler, is an Old World warbler which is an endemic (ecology), endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka, where it is the only bush warbler. Ta ...

is sometimes placed in this genus but is now placed in its own monotypic genus (''Elaphrornis''). Several other former members of this genus (e.g. the Chinese bush warbler) are now placed in '' Locustella''. Victorin's warbler is no longer a member of this genus or even the family Locustellidae, but is now placed in its own monotypic genus ''Cryptillas'' in the African warbler family

Macrosphenidae The African warblers are a newly erected family Macrosphenidae, of songbirds. Most of the species were formerly placed in the Old World warbler family Sylviidae, although one species, the rockrunner, was placed in the babbler family, Timaliidae. ...

. The genus contains 12 species: *

Knysna warbler The Knysna warbler or Knysna scrub warbler (''Bradypterus sylvaticus'') is a very shy and cryptic warbler, endemic to the coastal regions of South Africa. Its population is small and probably declining, due to natural and artificial fragmentatio ...

, ''Bradypterus sylvaticus'' * Bangwa forest warbler, ''Bradypterus bangwaensis'' *

Barratt's warbler The Barratt's warbler or African scrub warbler (''Bradypterus barratti''), is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found in eastern South Africa, Lesotho, eastern Zimbabwe and adjacent western Mozambique. Its natural h ...

, ''Bradypterus barratti'' * Evergreen forest warbler, ''Bradypterus lopezi'' *

Cinnamon bracken warbler The cinnamon bracken warbler (''Bradypterus cinnamomeus'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanza ...

, ''Bradypterus cinnamomeus'' *

Grey emutail The grey emutail (''Bradypterus seebohmi''), also known as the Madagascan grassbird or feather-tailed warbler, is an emutail in the family Locustellidae. It is found only in Madagascar. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist shru ...

, ''Bradypterus seebohmi'' * Brown emutail, ''Bradypterus brunneus'' * Dja River scrub warbler, ''Bradypterus grandis'' * Little rush warbler, ''Bradypterus baboecala'' * White-winged swamp warbler, ''Bradypterus carpalis'' * Grauer's swamp warbler, ''Bradypterus graueri'' * Highland rush warbler, ''Bradypterus centralis''

Footnotes

References

* Beresford, P.; Barker, F.K.; Ryan, P.G.; & Crowe, T.M. (2005)
African endemics span the tree of songbirds (Passeri): molecular systematics of several evolutionary 'enigmas'
'' Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. B'' 272 (1565): 849–858. Supplemental material
* del Hoyo, Josep; Elliott, Andrew & Sargatal, Jordi (eds.) (2006): ''

Handbook of Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. Th ...

'' (Volume 11: Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers). Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. {{Taxonbar, from=Q611996 Locustellidae Bird genera Taxa named by William John Swainson