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Locustellidae (1 Viewer)

Russet Bush Warbler complex

Ben Wielstra said:
Published today: http://www.avianres.com/content/6/1/9
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Alström et al 2015. Avian Res 6(9).
  • Locustella [mandelli] mandelli – Russet Bush Warbler (incl melanorhyncha)
  • Locustella [mandelli] idonea – Langbian(?) Bush Warbler
  • Locustella [mandelli] chengi sp nov – Sichuan Bush Warbler
  • Locustella seebohmi - Benguet Bush Warbler
  • Locustella montis - Javan Bush Warbler (incl timorensis)
  • Locustella alishanensis - Taiwan Bush Warbler
Michigan State University, 1 May 2015: INTERNATIONAL TEAM DISCOVERS ELUSIVE NEW BIRD IN CHINA.

BBC News, 1 May 2015: Song heralds arrival of new bird species.

GrrlScientist, Guardian, 1 May 2015: New bird species discovered in China.
 
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Richard Klim said:
Alström et al 2015. Avian Res 6(9).
  • Locustella [mandelli] mandelli – Russet Bush Warbler (incl melanorhyncha)
  • Locustella [mandelli] idonea – Langbian(?) Bush Warbler
  • Locustella [mandelli] chengi sp nov – Sichuan Bush Warbler
  • Locustella seebohmi - Benguet Bush Warbler
  • Locustella montis - Javan Bush Warbler (incl timorensis)
  • Locustella alishanensis - Taiwan Bush Warbler
Michigan State University, 1 May 2015: INTERNATIONAL TEAM DISCOVERS ELUSIVE NEW BIRD IN CHINA.

BBC News, 1 May 2015: Song heralds arrival of new bird species.

GrrlScientist, Guardian, 1 May 2015: New bird species discovered in China.
Click to expand...

IOC Update Diary:
May 3 Post proposed Bush Warbler split and lump on Updates/PS
May 3 Post newly described Sichuan Bush Warbler on Updates/PS
 
Richard Klim said:
Locustella chengi Alström et al has been added to the HBW Alive Recently described species and subspecies table (subscribers only), but has curiously been named 'Chinese Bush Warbler' (contra Alström et al's 'Sichuan Bush Warbler') – conflicting with Chinese Bush-warbler (Bradypterus tacsanowskius) (aka Locustella tacsanowskia).
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I hope Guy hasn't forgotten tacsanowskius! Perhaps he felt that chengi is rather too widespread to be named for Sichuan alone? Anyway great work by PA as always and nice to have an armchair tick on this one! B :) I suspect it will be a different story with some of the other upcoming work.

cheers, alan
 
Nutcracker said:
I'd doubt very much that Sichuan is even in a position to make a request for the species to be so named.
Click to expand...

Of course not, but it's a turn of phrase which seems to be used in these cases, in the sense of honoring the person (or location?) without a request to do so. I'm happy to agree that "named after" is equally appropriate (GMK may disagree ;) ). Anyway thanks for your contribution.

cheers, a
 
Nutcracker said:
OBI need to update their family concepts . . . Locustella in "Acrocephalinae", how 1990s! :eek!:
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The classification appears to still follow Inskipp et al 1996 (An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of the Oriental Region), which largely follows Sibley & Monroe 1993.

Similarly, Lynx Edicions' IBC remains stuck with the original HBW classification – I wonder if there are plans to eventually adopt the current HBW/BirdLife taxonomy, perhaps after publication of Illustrated Checklist Vol 2?

PS. IBC News, 10 Feb 2015: Updating the taxonomy of the IBC and other improvements.
 
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TiF Update May 25:

Locustella Warblers: The position of Styan's Grasshopper-Warbler, Locustella pleskei, has been adjusted based on Drovetski et al. (2015). The mitochondrial and nuclear trees are rather different. Drovetski et al. have investigated this situation, and it seems more likely that the nuclear phylogeny is correct concerning pleskei.

Alström et al. (2015b) described a new species, the Sichuan Bush-Warbler, Locustella chengi. They also undertook a reevaluation of the Russet Bush-Warbler complex. They recommended lumping Timor Bush-Warbler, Locustella timorensis, into Javan Bush-Warbler, Locustella montis and elevating idonea to species status. They did not provide an English name for idonea, and for the present, I'm using Tay Nguyen Bush-Warbler, Locustella idonea. IOC has suggested Langbian Bush-Warbler, but the range extends beyond Lian Bian (Biang?) and includes other parts of the Central Highlands (Tây Nguyên). They obtained two different phylogenies for the complex. I've adopted the BEAST chronogram, but it may not be entirely correct.
 
Little Rush Warbler

Richard Klim said:
Alström, Fregin, Norman, Ericson, Christidis & Olsson 2011. Multilocus analysis of a taxonomically densely sampled dataset reveal extensive non-monophyly in the avian family Locustellidae.

Bradypterus:
  • baboecala
  • 'baboecala' (Nigeria - B centralis?)
Click to expand...
Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire 2015. New avian observations from south-western Ethiopia, with a review of overlooked literature and altitudinal limits. Bull BOC 135(3): 224–239.
SUMMARY.—... and the specific status of Little Rush Warbler Bradypterus baboecala in Ethiopia is established. ...

... These observations confirm those of Benson (1948: 66), who remarked on the fact that vocalisations from Ethiopia and southern Africa were strikingly different from the high-pitched songs of populations centred on west-central Kenya. Molecular analyses confirm the specific distinction between these two groups (Alström et al. 2011), for which priority insists the names be B. baboecala (type locality South Africa) and B. centralis (type locality Rwanda). Most Ethiopian birds are B. b. abyssinicus, with B. b. sudanensis reportedly the form in the Gambela area (Ash & Atkins).
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Eastern Rush Warbler Bradypterus [baboecala] centralis (incl sspp chadensis, sudanensis, elgonensis) is treated as a distinct species by H&M4 (citing Chappuis 2000, Alström et al 2011); but not by BirdLife, IOC, eBird/Clements or HBW.
(Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire appear to retain sudanensis within B baboecala ss. H&M4: "Treatment within B. centralis is tentative pending vocal and molecular information.")

Pearson 2006 (HBW 11).
 
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Eastern Rush Warbler

Richard Klim said:
Eastern Rush Warbler Bradypterus [baboecala] centralis (incl sspp chadensis, sudanensis, elgonensis) is treated as a distinct species by H&M4 (citing Chappuis 2000, Alström et al 2011); but not by BirdLife, IOC, eBird/Clements or HBW.
(Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire appear to retain sudanensis within B baboecala ss. H&M4: "Treatment within B. centralis is tentative pending vocal and molecular information.")
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IOC World Bird List:
www.worldbirdnames.org/updates/update-diary/
www.worldbirdnames.org/updates/proposed-splits/
2015 Sept 17: Post proposed split of Eastern Rush Warbler on Updates/PS
PS 5.4: Eastern Rush Warbler Bradypterus centralis ... Alström et al. 2011, Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire 2015, H&M4
Click to expand...
(Scope TBC...)

Btw, H&M4's use of the name 'Eastern' Rush Warbler is arguably questionable for a species that ranges west to Nigeria.
 
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Bradypterus centralis

Richard Klim said:
Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire 2015. New avian observations from south-western Ethiopia, with a review of overlooked literature and altitudinal limits. Bull BOC 135(3): 224–239.

Eastern Rush Warbler Bradypterus [baboecala] centralis (incl sspp chadensis, sudanensis, elgonensis) is treated as a distinct species by H&M4 (citing Chappuis 2000, Alström et al 2011); but not by BirdLife, IOC, eBird/Clements or HBW.
(Dowsett & Dowsett-Lemaire appear to retain sudanensis within B baboecala ss. H&M4: "Treatment within B. centralis is tentative pending vocal and molecular information.")

Pearson 2006 (HBW 11).
Click to expand...


IOC Update Diary
Oct 6 Accept Highland Rush Warbler
 
Russet Bush Warbler complex

Ben Wielstra said:
Published today: http://www.avianres.com/content/6/1/9
Click to expand...
Richard Klim said:
Alström et al 2015. Avian Res 6(9).
  • Locustella [mandelli] mandelli – Russet Bush Warbler (incl melanorhyncha)
  • Locustella [mandelli] idonea – Langbian(?) Bush Warbler
  • Locustella [mandelli] chengi sp nov – Sichuan Bush Warbler
  • Locustella seebohmi - Benguet Bush Warbler
  • Locustella montis - Javan Bush Warbler (incl timorensis)
  • Locustella alishanensis - Taiwan Bush Warbler
Click to expand...
Birdwatch Listcheck, 30 Nov 2015: Five in the bush.
 
TiF Update January 9

Locustellidae: Alström et al. (2011b) found that the Little Rush Warbler, Bradypterus baboecala, consists of at least two species. The Highland Rush Warbler, Bradypterus centralis, has been split from it. The correct allocation of subspecies remains uncertain. Alström et al. examined 4 subspecies: transvaalensis and tongensis from the baboecala group and centralis and elgonensis from the centralis group. IOC has included only the two subspecies in centralis, while H&M-4 (Dickinson and Christidis, 2014) also included chadensis and sudanensis in the Highland Rush Warbler (B. centralis).

There is additional information available. Kennerley and Pearson (2010) note that some birds from Cameroon, usually thought to be centralis have vocalizations that “sound like southern birds rather than those of SW Uganda and Rwanda.” They suggest that these birds are not centralis. Since then, they have been considered part of msiri. Stervander et al. (2005) found Rush Warbler on the Jos Plateau in central Nigeria that responded to playback of Little Rush Warbler calls, even though it looked more like centralis. Dowsett and Dowsett-Lemaire (2015) found that birds at Lake Awassa in Ethiopia responded to playback of songs from South Africa, suggesting that abyssinicus belongs in the baboecala group. More work needs to be done to properly sort out this situation.
 
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