Grass warbler

The grass warblers are small passerine birds belonging to the genus Locustella. Formerly placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warbler" assemblage, they are now considered the northernmost representatives of a largely Gondwanan family, the Locustellidae. The genus name Locustella is from Latin and is a diminutive of locusta, "grasshopper". Like the English name, this refers to the insect-like song of some species.These are rather drab brownish "warblers" usually associated with fairly open grassland, shrubs or marshes. Some are streaked, others plain, all are difficult to view. They are insectivorous. The most characteristic feature of this group is that the song of several species is a mechanical insect-like reeling which gives rise to the group's scientific name. Species breeding in temperate regions are strongly migratory. The species are: Russet bush warbler, Locustella mandelli Dalat bush warbler, Locustella idonea Sichuan bush warbler, Locustella chengi Javan bush warbler, Locustella montis Taiwan bush warbler, Locustella alishanensis Bamboo warbler, Locustella alfredi West Himalayan bush warbler, Locustella kashmirensis Spotted bush warbler, Locustella thoracica Baikal bush warbler, Locustella davidi Chestnut-backed bush warbler, Locustella castanea Long-tailed bush warbler, Locustella caudata Long-billed bush warbler, Locustella major Chinese bush warbler, Locustella tacsanowskia Brown bush warbler, Locustella luteoventris Benguet bush warbler, Locustella seebohmi Friendly bush warbler, Locustella accentor Savi's warbler, Locustella luscinoides Lanceolated warbler, Locustella lanceolata River warbler Locustella fluviatilis Common grasshopper warbler, Locustella naevia A fossil acrocoracoid from the Late Miocene (about 11 mya) of Rudabánya (NE Hungary) is quite similar to this bone in the present genus. Given its rather early age (most Passerida genera are not known until the Pliocene), it is not too certain that it is correctly placed here, but it is highly