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The Cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax) is a typical warbler which breeds only on Cyprus.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This small passerine bird is a short-distance migrant, and winters in Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
The Cyprus warbler was first formally described in 1872 by the English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and ornithologist Henry Baker Tristram with its type locality given as En-Gedi in Palestine.<ref name = Tristram>Template:Cite journal</ref> It was formerly classified in the genus Sylvia but this genus is split into two distinctive clades,<ref name = Voelker>Template:Cite journal</ref> and most of the species formerly classified in Sylvia were move to the genus Curruca.<ref name="BOURC2021">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male is a small typical warbler with a grey back, black head, white malar streaks ("moustaches"), and, uniquely among typical warblers, underparts heavily streaked with black. The female is mainly grey above, with a greyer head, and whitish with only light spotting. The Cyprus warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is similar to that of the Sardinian warbler.<ref name = Baker>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Cyprus warbler is in the group of Curruca warblers centred on the Mediterranean and is most closely related to Tristram's warbler and Menetries's warbler, and less closely to the Eastern subalpine warbler, Sardinian warbler and Rüppell's warbler.<ref name = Voelker/> Both these groups have a white malar area, but this may not form a clear streak in the latter group; above the white, the heads of males are uniformly dark.<ref name = Baker/>
This is a bird of dry open country, often on hill slopes, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or gorse, and 3–5 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries.<ref name = Baker/>
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- The Sylvia Warblers Monograph, A & C Black, London: ‘Sylvia Warblers: Identification, Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Genus Sylvia’ (2001) by Shirihai, H., Gargallo, G., & Helbig, J. A. [Illustrated by Alan Harris; Photographic Editing and Field Photography by David Cottridge; Edited by Guy M. Kirwan and Lars Svensson.]. (Helm Identification Guides)
- Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). Zool. Scripta 35(2): 149–186. {{#invoke:doi|main}} (HTML abstract)