Pallas's grasshopper warbler

Pallas's grasshopper warbler

Rusty-rumped warbler

Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Helopsaltes certhiola

Pallas's grasshopper warbler (Helopsaltes certhiola ), also known as the rusty-rumped warbler, is an Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Helopsaltes. It breeds in the east Palearctic - Siberia to Manchuria and Sea of Japan, NE China, Altai Mountains, Sayan Mountains and TransbaikaliaSea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka. It is migratory, wintering from India east to Indonesia, where it is a rare migrant in Sri Lanka.

Animal name origin

This bird was named after the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas. The specific certhiola is a diminutive from the genus Certhia, the treecreepers.

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The sixth edition of Clements Checklist refers to this species as "Pallas's warbler", a name more commonly used for Phylloscopus proregulus.

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Appearance

This is a medium-sized warbler. The adult has a streaked brown back, whitish grey underparts, unstreaked except on the undertail. The sexes are identical, as with most warblers, but young birds are yellower below. Like most warblers, it is insectivorous. It is very similar to the common grasshopper warbler, but is slightly larger, has white tips to the tail and tertial feathers, and a warmer brown rump. The white tips are the reason for its colloquial, mnemonic name of "PG Tips".

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This is a skulky species which is very difficult to see except sometimes when singing. It creeps through grass and low foliage.

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Distribution

Geography

This small passerine bird is found in tall grass with some thicker vegetation, usually close to water in bogs or wet meadows. From 4 to 7 eggs are laid in a nest on the ground in grass. This species is a very rare vagrant to western Europe. One of the best places to see this skulking species as a vagrant is Fair Isle, Shetland; for a species that only rarely appears in western Europe, it can be found there with some regularity.

References

1. Pallas's grasshopper warbler Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallas's_grasshopper_warbler
2. Pallas's grasshopper warbler on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22714664/94423321
3. Xeno-canto bird call - https://xeno-canto.org/708591

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