Tawny grassbird
The tawny grassbird is a large songbird that is a member of the family Locustellidae commonly found in grassland and reedbed habitats. It is streaked above and has a distinctive rich brown cap. Its underside is paler and it has a long graduated tail. They call often with "loud, grumpy churring calls and a longer call that starts tick-tick-tick-tick and ends with an explosive descending trill".
The tawny grassbird has 10 identified sub-species found in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines.
Taxonomy
The family Locustellidae was named by Bonaparte in 1854 and is derived from the genus name Locustella named by Kemp in 1829. The term "grassbird" was used by Gould during the mid 19th century to signify a strong correlation to long grass habitats. The tawny grassbird has also been known as tawny sphenoeacus, grassbird, tawny or rufous-capped marshbird, rufous-capped grass-warbler and rufous-capped grassbird. Grass-warbler tends to be used in Asia rather than Australia. Genetic studies indicate a close relationship to songlarks.The tawny grassbird has 10 identified subspeciesCincloramphus timoriensis timoriensis Cincloramphus timoriensis tweeddalei Cincloramphus timoriensis alopex Cincloramphus timoriensis amboinensis Cincloramphus timoriensis crex Cincloramphus timoriensis mindorensis Cincloramphus timoriensis celebensis Cincloramphus timoriensis inquirendus Cincloramphus timoriensis muscalis Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri
The sub-species Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri has been divided into Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri located in Eastern Australia and Cincloramphus timoriensis alisteri located in Northern Australia.
While the family name Locustellidae is generally accepted some authorities place the tawny grassbird in the family Sylviidae. Also the genus name Cincloramphus is normally used but megalurus is also commonly used.
Description
The tawny grassbird is a medium sized grassbird with a wingspan of 56-69mm, a stout bill 14-17mmand weighs around 13-25g. The bird has an unstreaked rufous cap, obvious rufous fringes to flight feathers on the folded wing and wholly unstreaked underparts. It also has a long drooping tail and rufous rump. The male has a varied song given in both display flights and from exposed perches. The males sing mostly in spring and summer.The tawny grassbird is distinguished from the related little grassbird by its larger size, stouter bill, more rufous plumage and longer tail.