Broad-tailed Grassbird

Overview

The broad-tailed grassbird is a small, mostly brown Old World warbler in the family Locustellidae that is endemic to the Western Ghats of India, with possible occurrence in Sri Lanka. It inhabits higher altitude grassy hills where it typically skulks, becoming most visible during the breeding season when males perform aerial display flights.

Identification

• Uniform brown upperparts with a distinctive broad, round-tipped, and long graduated tail that has thin dark bars and is very dark below with white-tipped feathers.
• Features a buff supercilium, a short and strong bill with a slightly curved culmen, and somewhat long tarsus proportions.
• Males and females are indistinguishable in plumage, though gape colour is black in singing males and brown in females.
• During breeding, males produce a lark-like repeated trill accompanied by a fanned tail and fluttering flight, while other calls include a 'chack' and a 'zink' note.

Habitat

This species is restricted to grassy moist highlands, principally in the Western Ghats of southern India, mainly south of Karnataka but with some records from Pune, Lonavala, and Nashik. It is believed to be a resident, although it may make local movements, and there is unconfirmed evidence of occurrence in Sri Lanka.

Diet

The broad-tailed grassbird feeds on insects.

Did you know?

Formerly, the African Schoenicola brevirostris was included within this species, but molecular phylogeny studies have shown that the African and Indian populations are not closely related, with the broad-tailed grassbird being a sister species to the striated grassbird (Chaetornis striata).