The little grassbird (''Poodytes gramineus'') is a species of Old World warbler in the family
Locustellidae
Locustellidae is a recently recognised family of small insectivorous songbirds (" warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler " wastebin" family. It contains the grasshopper warblers, grassbirds, and the '' Bradypterus'' " bush war ...
. It is found in Australia and in West Papua, Indonesia. These
sexually monomorphic birds are found in reed beds, rushes, lignum swamps and salt marshes of Southeastern Australia.
The little grassbird is an inconspicuous and dull-coloured bird that is heard more regularly than it is seen, known for readily engaging in conversation with people. They feed on insects and small arthropods, usually remaining in densely covered areas of vegetation and living nomadically with no regular migration patterns.
[Pizzey, G., Knight, D., Pizzey, S,. (1997). The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia by Graham Pizzey and Frank Knight. 470(3). Retrieved 13 June 2018]
Taxonomy
Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the family
Sylviidae
Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers ''Sylvia'', and closely related genus '' Curruca'', formerly included in ''Sylvia''. They are found in Eurasia and Africa, with the greatest diversity in the Mediterrane ...
. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxonomic confusion. Grass warblers are sometimes strongly patterned but generally very drab in overall colouration.
The family ''
Locustellidae
Locustellidae is a recently recognised family of small insectivorous songbirds (" warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler " wastebin" family. It contains the grasshopper warblers, grassbirds, and the '' Bradypterus'' " bush war ...
'' was named by the French naturalist
Charles Lucien Bonaparte
Charles Lucien Jules Laurent Bonaparte, 2nd Prince of Canino and Musignano (24 May 1803 – 29 July 1857) was a French naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist, and a nephew of Napoleon. Lucien and his wife had twelve children, including Cardinal ...
in 1854 and is derived from the genus name ''Locustella'' named by
Johann Jakob Kaup
Johann Jakob von Kaup (10 April 1803 – 4 July 1873) was a German naturalist. A proponent of natural philosophy, he believed in an innate mathematical order in nature and he attempted biological classifications based on the Quinarian system. Kaup ...
in 1829. The little grassbird was
formally described in 1845 by the English ornithologist
John Gould
John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist who published monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould (illustrator), Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, includ ...
under the
binomial name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...
''Sphenoeacus gramineus''. It is now placed in the genus ''
Poodytes
''Poodytes'' is a genus of passerine birds in the grassbird family Locustellidae.
A molecular phylogenetic study of the grassbird family Locustellidae published in 2018 found that some of the genera, as then defined, were non-monophyletic. In th ...
'' that was introduced in 1851 by the German ornithologist
Jean Cabanis
Jean Louis Cabanis (8 March 1816 – 20 February 1906) was a German ornithologist. He worked at the bird collections of the Natural History Museum in Berlin becoming its first curator of birds in 1850. He founded the ''Journal für Ornithologie ...
.
[ The genus name combines the ]Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
''poa'' meaning "grass" with ''dutēs'' meaning "diver". The specific epithet is from Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and means "grassy" or "grass-like".
While the family name ''Locustellidae
Locustellidae is a recently recognised family of small insectivorous songbirds (" warblers"), formerly placed in the Old World warbler " wastebin" family. It contains the grasshopper warblers, grassbirds, and the '' Bradypterus'' " bush war ...
'' is generallty accepted, some authorities place the little grassbird in the Sylviidae
Sylviidae is a family of passerine birds that includes the typical warblers ''Sylvia'', and closely related genus '' Curruca'', formerly included in ''Sylvia''. They are found in Eurasia and Africa, with the greatest diversity in the Mediterrane ...
family. Also the genus name ''Poodytes'' is normally used but ''megalurus'' is also commonly used. The little grassbird has also been known as Grassbird, Little Marshbird, Little Reed Bird, Marsh Warbler and Striated Grassbird.
Four subspecies
In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...
are recognised:[
* ''Poodytes gramineus papuensis'' – West Papua, Indonesia
* ''Poodytes gramineus goulburni'' – Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, NSW and Victoria
* ''Poodytes gramineus thomasi'' – Western Australia
* ''Poodytes gramineus gramineus'' – Tasmania and Bass Strait islands, extra-tropical Southern Australia
]
Description
It is an olive-brown/ brown-grey bird, measuring 13 to 15 cm, with a pale eyebrow and dark grey streaks in the throat, crown and cheeks. The upper body is brown-grey, streaked dark grey and the lighter grey underparts are also streaky. The wing feathers are dark with white edges. Adult male and female grassbirds are indistinguishable to the naked eye; however, males are larger for all parameters aside from the bill.
The Slater Field Guide notes that the voice is a "plaintive three noted monotone, tee-ti-teee." The Australian Bird Guide notes that the bird is more often heard rather than seen, particularly in the breeding season where it gives "a sequence of 2-3 plaintive piping whistles p-pee-pee repeated incessantly."
The tawny grassbird (''Cincloramphus timoriensis'') is slightly larger and more rufous, particularly its crown. The striated fieldwren (''Calamanthus fuliginosus'') is quite similar, differing in its yellow underparts, and distinctive white eyebrows.
Distribution and habitat
The little grassbird is found across Eastern Australia and Tasmania, inland to Central Australia and South-Western Australia. It is also found in West Papua, Indonesia. It lives in dense wetland vegetation, sedges, reeds and rank grass. It also uses shrubs such as lignum, saltmarsh and low mangroves. After rains the little grassbird will move into temporary wetlands.
The occurrence of the little grassbird in West Papua is not common or widespread. Ebird identifies two locations only and the Atlas of Australian birds (1984) states only one specimen is known.
Behaviour and ecology
Food and feeding
The little Grassbird eats insects and other small arthropods, usually remaining in the dense cover of grasses and swamp vegetation.
Breeding
The breeding period is from August to December, or after rain. Nests are deep and cup-shaped consisting of grass, twigs and stems lined with feathers, typically of the Australasian swamphen
The Australasian swamphen (''Porphyrio melanotus''), commonly known as the pūkeko in New Zealand, is a striking and socially complex bird found in Oceania, including eastern Indonesia (the Moluccas, Aru Islands, Aru and Kai Islands), Papua New ...
(''Porphyrio melanotus''), and situated in tall grasses, reeds and low shrubs. A clutch consists of 3-5 whitish/pink-white, grey speckled eggs.
Observations of breeding biology and sex allocation have shown a highly male-biased population sex ratio, with some breeding territories having numerous extra males. There is little evidence to determine whether little grassbirds breed cooperatively. Male and female growth rates showed no notable difference.
Status
The species has been assessed as Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
by the IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...
. The population trend appears to be increasing; therefore the species does not reach the thresholds for a vulnerable listing. Birtdlife Australia lists it as secure in all states.
Gallery
File:Megalurus gramineus adult feeding juvenile - Gould's Lagoon.jpg, Little grassbird adult feeding juvenile, Gould's Lagoon, Tasmania
References
External links
Image at ADW
little grassbird
Birds of Australia
Birds of Western New Guinea
little grassbird
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
{{Locustellidae-stub