Tailorbirds are small

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, most belonging to the genus ''Orthotomus''. While they were often placed in the

Old World warbler Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Two families were split out initially, the ci ...

family Sylviidae, recent research suggests they more likely belong in the

Cisticolidae The family Cisticolidae is a group of about 160 warblers, small passerine birds found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They were formerly included within the Old World warbler family Sylviidae. This family probably originated ...

and they are treated as such in Del Hoyo et al. One former species, the

mountain tailorbird The mountain tailorbird (''Phyllergates cucullatus'') is a songbird species formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but is now placed in the genus ''Phyllergates'' of the family Cettiidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Camb ...

(and therefore also its sister species rufous-headed tailorbird), is actually closer to an old world warbler genus ''

Cettia ''Cettia'' is a genus of small insectivorous songbirds (" warblers") which make up the core of the newly recognized family Cettiidae. They were formerly placed in the Sylviidae, which at that time was a wastebin taxon for the warbler-like Sylv ...

''. They occur in the

Old World The "Old World" is a term for Afro-Eurasia that originated in Europe , after Europeans became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia, which were previously thought of by the ...

tropics, principally 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 ...

. These warblers are usually brightly colored, with green or grey upper parts and yellow white or grey under parts. They often have chestnut on the head. Tailorbirds have short rounded wings, short tails, strong legs and long curved bills. The tail is typically held upright, like a

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 ...

. They are typically found in open woodland, scrub and gardens. Tailorbirds get their name from the way their nest is constructed. The edges of a large leaf are pierced and sewn together with plant fibre or

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

's web to make a cradle in which the actual grass nest is built. Tailorbird baby

Species

The genus contains 13 species: *

Common tailorbird The common tailorbird (''Orthotomus sutorius'') is a songbird found across tropical Asia. Popular for its nest made of leaves "sewn" together and immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as ''Darzee'' in his ''Jungle Book'', it is a common resident in ur ...

, ''Orthotomus sutorius'' *

Dark-necked tailorbird The dark-necked tailorbird (''Orthotomus atrogularis'') is a songbird species. Formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, it is now placed in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Northeast India and Southeast Asia. Its ...

, ''Orthotomus atrogularis'' * Cambodian tailorbird, ''Orthotomus chaktomuk'' *

Philippine tailorbird The Philippine tailorbird (''Orthotomus castaneiceps'') is a species of bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. It is native to the western Philippines. Its natural habitats are subt ...

, ''Orthotomus castaneiceps'' *

Trilling tailorbird The trilling tailorbird or green-backed tailorbird (''Orthotomus chloronotus'') is a species of bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. The bird is endemic to the northern Philippine ...

, ''Orthotomus chloronotus'' *

Rufous-fronted tailorbird The rufous-fronted tailorbird (''Orthotomus frontalis'') is a species of bird formerly placed in the Old World warbler assemblage, but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. It is native to the southern and eastern Philippines. Its natural habita ...

, ''Orthotomus frontalis'' *

Grey-backed tailorbird The gray-backed tailorbird (''Orthotomus derbianus'') is a species of bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, it but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. It is native to the Philippine islands of Palawan, Luzon and Catanduan ...

, ''Orthotomus derbianus'' *

Rufous-tailed tailorbird The rufous-tailed tailorbird (''Orthotomus sericeus'') is a species of bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, it but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. It is found in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, ...

, ''Orthotomus sericeus'' * Ashy tailorbird, ''Orthotomus ruficeps'' *

Olive-backed tailorbird The olive-backed tailorbird (''Orthotomus sepium'') is a species of passerine bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, it but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. It is endemic to the islands of Java, Madura Island, Bali an ...

, ''Orthotomus sepium'' *

Yellow-breasted tailorbird The yellow-breasted tailorbird (''Orthotomus samarensis'') is a species of passerine bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but now placed in the family Cisticolidae. Distribution The species is endemic to Samar, Leyte and B ...

, ''Orthotomus samarensis'' * Black-headed tailorbird, ''Orthotomus nigriceps'' *

White-eared tailorbird The white-eared tailorbird (''Orthotomus cinereiceps'') is a species of bird formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, it but now placed in the family Cisticolidae.It is found in the Philippine islands of Basilan and West Mindanao. ...

, ''Orthotomus cinereiceps'' Two species moved to the

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 ...

: *

Mountain tailorbird The mountain tailorbird (''Phyllergates cucullatus'') is a songbird species formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" assemblage, but is now placed in the genus ''Phyllergates'' of the family Cettiidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Camb ...

, ''Phyllergates cucullatus'' * Rufous-headed tailorbird, ''Phyllergates heterolaemus''

References

Bibliography

* The New Student's Reference Work/Tailor-Bird * Baker, Kevin. ''Warblers of Europe, Asia and North Africa''. (2007). * Ryan, Peter (2006). Family Cisticolidae (Cisticolas and allies). Pp. 378–492 in del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A. (editors). (2006). ''

Handbook of the 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. T ...

''. Volume 11. Old World Flycatchers to Old World Warblers''.

Lynx Edicions Lynx Edicions is a Spanish publishing company specializing in ornithology and natural history. History Lynx Edicions was founded in Barcelona by , a lawyer and collector; , a naturalist; and , a medical doctor and writer. Since 2002, the company ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

External links

Call of the common tailorbird
{{Taxonbar, from=Q18340387 Cisticolidae *