From Opus

Male
Photo by RASHED
Kuwait, February 2009

Sylvia mystacea

[edit] Identification

12 to 14 cm

• Long blackish tail
• White outer tail feathers
• Heavy dark bill, pinkish patch at the base
• Pale bare eye ring
  

Male

• Dark grey upperparts
• White underparts
• White submoustachial stripe
• Pink throat and breast
• Dark cap
• Grey nape
  

Female

• Sandy grey-brown upperparts
• Buffish-white underparts

Female
Photo by kuwaity
National Park, Sabiya, Kuwait, April 2004

[edit] Distribution

Asia, winters in Africa
Africa: Egypt
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia
Middle East: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
Asia: Russia, Northern Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

There are 3 subspecies:

• S. m. mystacea:

• Transcaucasia and north-eastern Turkey to lower Volga; winters to north-eastern Africa

• S. m. rubescens:

• Lebanon and south-eastern Turkey to Iraq and south-western Iran; winters to north-eastern Africa

• S. m. turcmenica:

• Eastern Iran to northern Afghanistan and western Tajikistan; winters north-eastern Africa

[edit] Habitat

Scrub, thickets, open woodland, desert and gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

Flicks tail

[edit] Diet

Diet includes insects, invertebrates, berries, fruit and seeds.

[edit] Breeding

It builds a cup-shaped nest of twigs, stems and grass leaves with feathers and hair, in low vegetation. The 4-5 brown-spotted white eggs are incubated by both parents for 11 to 13 days. The young birds fledge after 10 or 11 days.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links