The family Cisticolidae is a group of about 160

warbler Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

s, small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines are distinguished from other orders of birds by th ...

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 lightweig ...

s found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They were formerly included within 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 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 Sylvi ...

. This family probably originated in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, which has the majority of species, but there are representatives of the family across tropical

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 ...

into

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecolo ...

, and one species, the

zitting cisticola The zitting cisticola or streaked fantail warbler (''Cisticola juncidis'') is a widely distributed Old World warbler whose breeding range includes southern Europe, Africa (outside the deserts and rainforest), and southern Asia down to northern Aus ...

, breeds in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

. These are generally very small birds of drab brown or grey appearance found in open country such as grassland or scrub. They are often difficult to see and many species are similar in appearance, so the song is often the best identification guide. These are insectivorous birds which nest low in vegetation.

Taxonomy

The family was introduced (as Cisticolinae) by the Swedish zoologist

Carl Jakob Sundevall Carl Jakob Sundevall (22 October 1801, Högestad – 2 February 1875) was a Swedish zoologist. Sundevall studied at Lund University, where he became a Ph.D. in 1823. After traveling to East Asia, he studied medicine, graduating as Doctor of Med ...

in 1872. Many taxonomists place the red-winged prinia and the red-fronted prinia in the genus ''

Prinia Prinia is a genus of small insectivorous birds belonging to the passerine bird family Cisticolidae. They were at one time classed in the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae. The prinias are sometimes referred to as wren-warblers. They are a ...

'' rather than in their own

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

genera. Support for their placement in ''Prinia'' is provided by a

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

study of the Cisticolidae published in 2013 that found that both species were closely related to the

prinia Prinia is a genus of small insectivorous birds belonging to the passerine bird family Cisticolidae. They were at one time classed in the Old World warbler family, Sylviidae. The prinias are sometimes referred to as wren-warblers. They are a ...

List of genera

The family contains 167 species divided into 26 genera: For more detail, see

List of Cisticolidae species Cisticolas and allies form the bird family Cisticolidae. The International Ornithological Congress International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International ...

. * '' Neomixis'', jeries (3 species) (genus is

basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...

to all other Cisticolidae) * '' Cisticola'', cisticolas (53 species) * '' Incana'' – monotypic, Socotra warbler (''Incana incanus'') * ''

'', prinias (29 species) * '' Schistolais'' (2 species) * '' Phragmacia'' – monotypic, Namaqua warbler (''Phragmacia substriata'') * '' Oreophilais'' – monotypic, Roberts's warbler (''Oreophilais robertsi'') Rufous-eared Warbler

* '' Micromacronus'' (2 species) * '' Urolais'' – monotypic, green longtail (''Urolais epichlora'') * '' Oreolais'', (2 species) – moved here from ''Apalis'' * '' Drymocichla'' – monotypic, red-winged grey warbler (''Drymocichla incana'') * '' Spiloptila'' – monotypic, cricket warbler (''Spiloptila clamans'') * ''

Phyllolais The buff-bellied warbler (''Phyllolais pulchella'') is a species of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Phyllolais''. It is found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritr ...

'' – monotypic, buff-bellied warbler (''Phyllolais pulchella'') * ''

Apalis The apalises are small passerine birds belonging to the genus ''Apalis'', in the family Cisticolidae. They are found in forest, woodlands and scrub across most parts of sub-Saharan Africa. They are slender birds with long tails and have a slende ...

'', apalises (25 species) * '' Malcorus'' – monotypic, rufous-eared warbler (''Malcorus pectoralis'') * '' Hypergerus'' – monotypic, oriole warbler (''Hypergerus atriceps'') * '' Eminia'' – monotypic, grey-capped warbler (''Eminia lepida'') * '' Camaroptera'' (5 species) * '' Calamonastes'' (4 species) * '' Euryptila'' – monotypic, cinnamon-breasted warbler (''Euryptila subcinnamomea'') * ''

Bathmocercus ''Bathmocercus'' is a genus of bird in the family Cisticolidae. It contains the following species: * Black-headed rufous warbler (''Bathmocercus cerviniventris'') * Black-faced rufous warbler (''Bathmocercus rufus'') Species from the genus ''Sc ...

'', rufous warblers (2 species) * ''

Scepomycter ''Scepomycter'' is a genus of threatened birds in the family Cisticolidae. The two species are endemic to highland forests in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. They are small, mainly grey birds with a reddish-orange head. Taxonomy The Rubeh ...

'' (2 species) - sometimes merged into ''Bathmocercus'' * '' Orthotomus'', tailorbirds (13 species) * ''

Artisornis ''Artisornis'' is a genus of birds in the family Cisticolidae. It contains the following species: * Red-capped forest warbler, ''Artisornis metopias'' * Long-billed forest warbler, ''Artisornis moreaui'' Taxonomy The genus ''Artisornis'' was i ...

'' (2 species) * '' Poliolais'' – monotypic, white-tailed warbler (''Poliolais lopezi'') * '' Eremomela'' (11 species)

References

External links

Cisticolidae videos
on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar, from=Q550595 Bird families

Taxonomy

List of genera

References

Further reading

External links