Yerbera Estriada

Identificación

This warbler is large and brownish with broad dark streaks to the feathers of the crown and back and can appear almost babbler-like in appearance (easily mistaken for common babbler). The tail is graduated with white tips to the feathers. The rachis of the tail feathers is dark and there are dark ribs to the feathers. The bill is strong. The tarsus is brown and the bill is black with the lower mandible tipped bluish grey. They have a buff supercilium (brow) and have a pale unmarked underside.<p>This species was included in the "Old World warbler" family Sylviidae, in the genus Chaetornis but more comprehensive studies on external morphology and DNA sequence studies, have led to its placement in the grass warbler family Locustellidae in the genus Schoenicola as a sister species of S. platyurus.<p>This genus in the warbler family is distinctive in having a bare patch of skin in front of the eyes (the lores) on which a vertical row of five stiff rictal bristles arise and face forward. The bare skin is flexible and it is thought that the bristles provide protection to the eye as the bird scampers between the dense and rough grass by folding back and forming a kind of cage or visor over the eye . The feathers on the breast are stiff and in some individuals the tips are dark giving it a necklaced appearance. The sexes are similar in plumage.

Taxonomía

Género: Schoenicola; familia: Locustellidae; orden: Passeriformes.

Nombre científico

Schoenicola striatus

Autoridad

(Jerdon, 1841)

Orden

Passeriformes

Familia

Locustellidae

Género

Schoenicola

Distribución y hábitat

The habitat in which the bristled grassbird occurs is tall grass-covered marshlands. The distribution range is mainly in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent. It was formerly described as common in at least Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa, Lahore (where they bred in the Rakh area), parts of Bangladesh, and Nepal. The species is threatened by the destruction of grassland and marshland habitats. The species was thought to be mainly sedentary with movements related to the rains but they may be migratory, breeding along the riverine plains south of the Himalayas and wintering further east and south in the peninsula of India.

Migración

Migrantes completos

Comportamiento

Patrón migratorio: Migrantes completos.

Conservación

Tendencia poblacional: en declive.

Tendencia poblacional

en declive