Desert warbler
| Desert warbler | ||||||||||||
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Desert warbler ( Sylvia nana ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sylvia nana | ||||||||||||
| ( Ehrenberg , 1833) |
The desert warbler ( Sylvia nana ) is a singing bird from the genus of Whitethroats ( Sylvia ). It breeds in semi- deserts in western North Africa and in steppes north of the Caspian Sea .
description
The desert warbler is 11.5 to 12.5 centimeters long, making it one of the smallest warblers.
The light plumage is sand-colored on the upper side. The umbrella feathers and large arm covers have ocher hems. The top of the tail is conspicuously rusty brown, the middle tail feathers have black shaft lines, the outermost tail feathers are white. The throat and underside are white, as is the wide eye ring, which is extended as an eye stripe to the base of the beak. The ear covers are set off in light brown. The iris is yellow, the legs are light yellow-brown. The beak is slender and dull yellowish, only dark at the tip and on the ridge. Males and females look alike.
The desert warbler is lively and restless. She spends a lot of time on the ground and hops around there.
voice
The call is brightly shaking "cher´r´r´r" and is similar to that of house sparrows or blue tits .
The singing consists of light, jerky stanzas, the rhythm of which is similar to that of the black warbler and consists of mostly clear and a few rougher tones.
Systematics
There are two subspecies :
- S. n. Nana is gray-brown on the upper side, lives in the east of the distribution area in Asia and is a migratory bird .
- S. n. Deserti is light yellow-beige on the upper side, lives in the west of the distribution area in North Africa and is a resident bird .
Habitat and Distribution
The desert warbler lives in sandy or stony semi-deserts, dry steppes with individual low bushes or areas with herbs and grasses.
They are distributed in individual regions in western North Africa ( S. n. Deserti ) and southeastern Russia , Central Asia and Iran ( S. n. Nana ).
literature
- L. Svensson, PJ Grant, K. Mullarney, D. Zetterström: The new cosmos bird guide - All species of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07720-9 .
Web links
- Sylvia nana in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2008. Posted by: BirdLife International, 2004. Retrieved on January 4 of 2009.
- Feathers of the desert warbler