Overview

Oriental Reed-Warbler: Small brown warbler with short crest, white-buff line above and in front of eye, white throat and breast, and white-buff on rest of underparts. Medium, gray-brown and brown-pink bill. Medium-length wings with brown-black flight feathers. Medium-length black-gray legs and feet. Sexes similar. Juvenile more red-brown.

Voice Text

"kiruk kiruk kiruk, jee jee jee", "krak", "si-si-si-si"

• Both Siberian weasels and snakes from the Elaphe genus are known nest predators of this species.
• The Oriental Reed-Warbler was first described in Japan in 1847 by Dutch zoologist C. Temminck and German ornithologist H. Schlegel.
• Their nests are built above water on mud or dry ground. They are a deep, cylindrical cup that is made up of woven grass stalks, reed flowers and stems. It is lined primarily with very thin, long fragments of stalks.
• A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

• Palau Bush-Warbler

Grassbirds (Megaluridae)

ORDER

The one hundred eighteen families in the taxonomic order PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez) include a variety of small perching birds such as the kinglets as well as large birds such as the crows and jays.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

In the Megaluridae (pronounced meg-ah-lur-EYE-uh-dee) family there are fifty-two species, two of which have occurred in the United States.

SOUTH PACIFIC-PALAU

Two species of grassbirds in two genera occur in the South Pacific. One species in one genus, the Lanceolated Warbler, occurs as a migrant in Palau.

NORTH AMERICA

In North America, two species in one genera of the Megaluridae family have occurred. The Middendorff’s Grasshopper-Warbler and the Lanceolated Warbler are both Asian species which have been spotted in the Aleutians and a few other places.

KNOWN FOR

Grassbirds are often found in scrubland and forage on the ground and in undergrowth.

PHYSICAL

Members of the Megaluridae are small birds with long tails that are usually pointed.

COLORATION

Grassbirds are mostly brown and buff, many also have streaked wings or underparts.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

Grassbirds are found primarily in scrubland across Eurasia, Africa, and Australia.

MIGRATION

Some birds are migratory and vagrants have appeared in Western Europe and the Aleutian islands.

HABITS

Members of the Megaluridae forage for invertebrates by gleaning them from the vegetation of trees and bushes. Many skulk low in underbrush, and creep through grass and scrub.

CONSERVATION

While some species are listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, others such as the Sri Lanka Bush Warbler is considered Near Threatened due to its small range and loss of habitat.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Megaluridae family was formerly placed in the Old World Warblers family. It is also known as the Locustellidae family.

Artist

Chris Vest