''Curruca'' is a genus of Sylviid warblers, best represented 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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. All of these species were formerly placed in the genus '' Sylvia''.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Curruca'' was introduced by the German naturalist

Johann Matthäus Bechstein Johann Matthäus Bechstein (11 July 1757 – 23 February 1822) was a German naturalist, forester, ornithologist, entomologist, and herpetologist. In Great Britain, he was known for his treatise on singing birds (''Naturgeschichte der Stubenvögel ...

in 1802. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen( ...

(by tautonomy) is the

lesser whitethroat The lesser whitethroat (''Curruca curruca'') is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in the western and central Palearctic. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, winte ...

''Curruca curruca''. The name ''Curruca'' is the Latin word for an unidentified small bird mentioned by the Roman poet

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ), was a Roman poet active in the late first and early second century CE. He is the author of the collection of satirical poems known as the '' Satires''. The details of Juvenal's lif ...

. The genus was split from '' Sylvia'' in the Howard and Moore Checklist in 2014 after 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 published in 2011. The split is now recognised by most modern authorities.

Species

The genus contains 27 species: *

Barred warbler The barred warbler (''Curruca nisoria'') is a typical warbler which breeds across temperate regions of central and eastern Europe and western and central Asia. This passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical eastern Africa.Del ...

, ''Curruca nisoria'' *

Layard's warbler Layard's warbler (''Curruca layardi'') or Layard's tit-babbler, is a species of Old World warbler in the family Sylviidae. It is found in Lesotho, Namibia, and South Africa. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry shrubland Shrubl ...

, ''Curruca layardi'' *

Banded parisoma The banded parisomaZimmerman, D.A.; Turner, D.A. and Pearson, D.J. (1999) Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p.482. (''Curruca boehmi''), banded tit warbler or banded warbler, is a species of Old World w ...

, ''Curruca boehmi'' *

Chestnut-vented warbler The chestnut-vented warbler, chestnut-vented tit-babbler or rufous-vented warbler (''Curruca subcoerulea'') is an Old World warbler. The chestnut-vented warbler breeds in southern Africa in Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, South Afri ...

, ''Curruca subcoerulea'' *

Desert whitethroat The desert whitethroat (''Curruca minula'') is a typical warbler. Until recently, it was considered conspecific with the lesser whitethroat as some authorities now reinstate. These are seen as members of a superspecies. The desert whitethroat tog ...

, ''Curruca minula'' *

Lesser whitethroat The lesser whitethroat (''Curruca curruca'') is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in the western and central Palearctic. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, winte ...

, ''Curruca curruca'' *

Hume's whitethroat Hume's whitethroat (''Curruca althaea'') is a species of typical warbler. Until recently, it was considered conspecific with the lesser whitethroat as some authorities now reinstate. These are seen as members of a superspecies which also include ...

, ''Curruca althaea'' *

Brown parisoma The brown parisoma or brown warbler (''Curruca lugens'') is a typical warbler The typical warblers are small birds belonging to the genus ''Sylvia'' in the "Old World warbler" (or sylviid warbler) family (biology), family Sylviidae.Del Hoyo, ...

, ''Curruca lugens'' *

Yemen warbler The Yemen warbler or Yemen parisoma (''Curruca buryi'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family Sylviidae. It is found on the southeastern slope of the Sarawat Mountains of Yemen and Saudi Arabia, where its natural habitat is subtropical ...

, ''Curruca buryi'' * Arabian warbler, ''Curruca leucomelaena'' * Western Orphean warbler, ''Curruca hortensis'' * Eastern Orphean warbler, ''Curruca crassirostris'' *

African desert warbler The African desert warbler (''Curruca deserti'') is a typical warbler. Taxonomy Until recently it was considered conspecific with the Asian desert warbler (and called just "desert warbler"),Del Hoyo, J., Elliot, A., & Christie, D. (editors). (2 ...

, ''Curruca deserti'' *

Asian desert warbler The Asian desert warbler (''Curruca nana'') is a typical warbler which breeds in the deserts of central and western Asia and the extreme east of Europe (Volga Delta area east to western Inner Mongolia in China), and migrating to similar habitats ...

, ''Curruca nana'' * Tristram's warbler, ''Curruca deserticola'' *

Menetries's warbler Menetries's warbler or Ménétries's warbler (''Curruca mystacea'') is a small passerine bird of Southwest Asia belonging to the genus '' Curruca''. The name of the species commemorates Édouard Ménétries, the French zoologist who described the ...

, ''Curruca mystacea'' * Rüppell's warbler, ''Curruca ruppeli'' *

Cyprus warbler The Cyprus warbler (''Curruca melanothorax'') is a typical warbler which breeds only on Cyprus. This small passerine bird is a short-distance migrant, and winters in Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Like most ''Curruca'' species, it has disti ...

, ''Curruca melanothorax'' * Sardinian warbler, ''Curruca melanocephala'' * Western subalpine warbler, ''Curruca iberiae'' * Moltoni's warbler, ''Curruca subalpina'' *

Eastern subalpine warbler The eastern subalpine warbler (''Curruca cantillans'') is a small typical warbler which breeds in the southernmost areas of Europe. It was first described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name ''Motac ...

, ''Curruca cantillans'' *

Common whitethroat The common whitethroat or greater whitethroat (''Curruca communis'') is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winte ...

, ''Curruca communis'' * Spectacled warbler, ''Curruca conspicillata'' * Marmora's warbler, ''Curruca sarda'' * Dartford warbler, ''Curruca undata'' * Balearic warbler, ''Curruca balearica''

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q12814009 Curruca Bird genera Taxa named by Johann Matthäus Bechstein