Phylloscopidae Leaf Warblers

This family, recently split from the once enormous Sylviidae, contains a number of very small songbirds that forage with restless motion on or just above branches and leaves for small insects, often flicking their wings and using their fine, thin bills combined with rapid hops and hovers to capture their prey. Most have fairly unprepossessing plumage: olive backs, yellow to light gray undersides, and very often some wing bars and a striped or chestnut crown. Their songs, like their plumage, tend to be fairly simple—largely a jumble of thin warbles, buzzes, or repeated syllables. Though they spend most of their time foraging in tree crowns, they generally place their nests low, near, or even on the ground.