The tawny grassbird (''Cincloramphus timoriensis'') is a large

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 ...

that is part of the

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

- and bush-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 ...

) commonly found in grassland and reedbed habitats. It is streaked above and has a distinctive rich brown cap. Its underside is paler and it has a long graduated tail. They call often with "loud, grumpy churring calls and a longer call that starts ''tick-tick-tick-tick'' and ends with an explosive descending trill". The tawny grassbird has 10 identified sub-species found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Taxonomy

The family ''

'' was named by Bonaparte in 1854 and is derived from the genus name ''Locustella'' named by Kemp in 1829. The term "grassbird" was used by Gould during the mid 19th century to signify a strong correlation to long grass habitats. The tawny grassbird has also been known as tawny sphenoeacus, grassbird, tawny or rufous-capped marshbird, rufous-capped grass-warbler and rufous-capped grassbird. Grass-warbler tends to be used in

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 ...

rather than Australia. Genetic studies indicate a close relationship to songlarks. The tawny grassbird has 10 identified sub-species * ''

Cincloramphus ''Cincloramphus'' is a genus of birds in the grassbird family Locustellidae. The genus ''Cincloramphus'' was introduced by the English ornithologist and bird artist John Gould in 1838 with the brown songlark as the type species. The name combin ...

timoriensis timoriensis'' (Timor, Lesser Sundas.) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis tweeddale''i (n and c Philippines) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis alopex'' (Bohol, Leyte and Cebu, c Philippines.) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis amboinensis'' (Ambon, s Moluccas) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis crex'' (s Philippines) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis mindorensis'' (Mindoro, nw Philippines.) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis celebensis'' (Sulawesi) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis inquirendus'' (Sumba, Lesser Sundas.) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis muscalis'' (s New Guinea) * ''Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri'' (n and e Australia) The sub-species ''Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri'' has been divided into ''Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri (alisteri)'' located in Eastern Australia and ''Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri (oweni)'' located in Northern Australia. While the family name ''

'' is generally accepted some authorities place the tawny grassbird 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 ...

family. Also the genus name ''Cincloramphus'' is normally used but ''megalurus'' is also commonly used.

Description

The tawny grassbird is a medium sized grassbird with a wingspan of 56-69mm, a stout bill 14-17mmand weighs around 13-25g. The bird has an unstreaked rufous (rich brown) cap, obvious rufous fringes to flight feathers on the folded wing and wholly unstreaked underparts.It also has a long drooping tail and rufous rump. The male has a varied song given in both display flights and from exposed perches. The males sing mostly in spring and summer. The tawny grassbird is distinguished from the related

little grassbird The little grassbird (''Poodytes gramineus'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae. It is found in Australia and in West Papua, Indonesia. These sexually monomorphic birds are found in reed beds, rushes, lignum swamps an ...

by its larger size, stouter bill, more rufous plumage and longer tail.

Distribution and habitat

Within Australia the tawny grassbird is mainly found on "coastal lowlands in rank grasslands, sedges reeds and rushes" and bordering wetlands In 2011 a population of tawny grassbirds was located in

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

, almost a 100km from other populations. Generally, grassbirds found in inland

Eastern Australia The eastern states of Australia are the states adjoining the east continental coastline of Australia. These are the mainland states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and the island state of Tasmania. The Australian Capital Territory ...

are little grassbirds.

Behaviour

Feeding

Tawny grassbirds feed on insects.

Vocalisation

The Slater Field Guide notes the voice is a rich ''ch-ch-ch-zzzzzzt lik lik'': loud ''see-lick'': high-pitched descending trill. In flight, it has "metallic ''chuck chuck chuck''." The Australian Bird Guide describes displaying males with a "delightful varied song, given both in display flights and from exposed perches. Its alarm call is a repeated "harsh ''tjik or jk-jk''".

Reproduction

Tawny grassbirds nest in long grass in well hidden cups of grass. They generally lay 3 freckled reddish eggs.

Status and conservation

The species is rated

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

(LC) as it has an extensive range, the population appears to be stable and although the population size has not been quantified, it is not believed that it is approaching Vulnerable. Some concern has been expressed for a decline in populations because of persistent grazing of tall grasses but in New Guinea it was observed that population density was greater in shorter grazed grass than the neighbouring taller grasses.

References

External Links

Birdlife International, Species factsheet.
tawny grassbird Birds of Australia Birds of the Philippines Birds of Wallacea Birds of New Guinea tawny grassbird Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Locustellidae-stub