Rüppell's Warbler

Taxobox
name = Rüppell's Warbler
status = LC
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Sylviidae
genus = "Sylvia"
species = "S. rueppelli"
binomial = "Sylvia rueppelli"
binomial_authority = Temminck, 1823, Crete

The Rüppell's Warbler "Sylvia rueppelli", is a typical warbler of the genus "Sylvia". It breeds in Greece, Turkey and neighbouring islands. It is migratory, wintering in north east Africa. This is a rare vagrant to western Europe. The name is occasionally cited as "Rueppell's Warbler".

These are small typical warblers, similar in size but slimmer than the Sardinian Warbler. The adults have a plain grey back and paler grey underparts. The bill is fine and pointed and the legs brown. The male has a black head and, usually, a black throat, separated by a white malar streak ("moustache"). The eye is red. Females have a pale throat, and the head is grey rather than black. Their grey back has a brownish tinge. The song is a slower, deeper rattle than that of Sardinian Warbler.

Together with the Cyprus Warbler it forms a superspecies with dark throats, white malar streaks and light remiges fringes. This in turn is related to the species of Mediterranean and Middle East "Sylvia" warblers that have a naked eye-ring, namely the Subalpine Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Ménétries's Warbler. Both 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.(Helbig 2001, Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006)

These small passerine birds are found in thick thorny shrubs. Four to six eggs are laid in a nest in a bush. Like most warblers, this species is insectivorous.

It is named after the German collector Eduard Rüppell.

References

* Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
* Helbig, A. J. (2001): Phylogeny and biogeography of the genus "Sylvia". "In:" Shirihai, Hadoram: "Sylvia warblers": 24-29. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. ISBN 0691088330
* Jønsson, Knud A. & Fjeldså, Jon (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). "Zool. Scripta" 35(2): 149–186. doi|:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00221.x (HTML abstract)

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