Tree warbler
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Tree warblers are medium-sized warblers in the marsh- and tree-warbler family Acrocephalidae. They are found in Europe, Africa and western Asia.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Until recently, they were all classified in the single genus Hippolais.
These warblers are associated with trees, though normally in fairly open woodland rather than tight plantations. Compared with the closely related Acrocephalus species, tree warblers have squarer tails and broader bill-bases. Most are unstreaked greenish or brownish above and cream or white below. They are insectivorous, but will occasionally take berries or seeds. The species breeding in temperate regions are mostly strongly migratory.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
TaxonomyEdit
All the tree warblers were formerly placed in the "Old World warbler" family Sylviidae but are now separated in the family Acrocephalidae, along with the marsh warblers, Acrocephalus, and some related species.
Considerable evidence, much of it summarised in Parkin et al. (2004),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> suggests that the genus Hippolais is paraphyletic with respect to Acrocephalus. DNA studies, e.g. Leisler et al. (1997),<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> interpreted by George Sangster in 1997,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> indicated that the olivaceous and booted/Sykes's warbler grouping (the subgenus Iduna) are more closely related to Acrocephalus species than they are to icterine and melodious warblers and as a result the Dutch Committee on Avian Systematics (CSNA) has moved these four species into Acrocephalus.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A subsequent review by the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee retained the genus Hippolais, for all eight species, but in agreement with Sangster, acknowledged that they fell into two groups.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
The retention of the Iduna grouping within Hippolais was done because it was felt that more evidence was needed for its placement, because of low bootstrap values,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> rather than because of a belief that the status quo was correct – no evidence was put forward to refute the DNA findings. Mark Constantine, in The Sound Approach to Birding,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> illustrated that there is extensive overlap in song types between species from the two genera, and that vocally, no characters existed which enabled species to be sorted into one genus or the other. Kenneth Williamson<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Hadoram Shirihai,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> in discussing the identification of Hippolais and Acrocephalus warblers stressed the similarities between species in the two genera. Colin Bradshaw, in British Birds, has written several articles on morphological similarity between cross-generic species-pairs e.g. eastern olivaceous and Blyth's reed warblers (Bradshaw 2000)<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and paddyfield and booted warblers (e.g. Bradshaw & Steele 1995,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Bradshaw & Steele 1997,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> the latter a response to Lars Svensson's comments<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> on Bradshaw & Steele 1995).
The species are:Template:Citation needed
Genus Iduna
- Thick-billed warbler, Iduna aedon
- Booted warbler, Iduna caligata
- Sykes's warbler, Iduna rama
- Western olivaceous warbler (or isabelline warbler),<ref>The name isabelline warbler was first used in volume 11 of the Handbook of the Birds of the World.</ref> Iduna opaca
- Eastern olivaceous warbler, Iduna pallida
- Mountain yellow warbler, Iduna similis
- African yellow warbler, Iduna natalensis
Genus Hippolais
- Upcher's warbler, Hippolais languida
- Olive-tree warbler, Hippolais olivetorum
- Melodious warbler, Hippolais polyglotta
- Icterine warbler, Hippolais icterina
Genus Calamonastides
- Papyrus yellow warbler, Calamonastides gracilirostris