West Himalayan Bush Warbler Locustella kashmirensis Scientific name definitions

The West Himalayan Bush Warbler (Locustella kashmirensis), also known as the Himalayan Grasshopper Warbler, is a small, warm brown warbler with a grayish tone on the supercilium, ear-coverts, nape sides, and breast. It has a relatively short, round-tipped tail, and long brown undertail-coverts with whitish feather tips (1 Baker, K. (1997). Warblers of Europe, Asia and North Africa. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close , 2 Kennerley, P., and D. Pearson (2010). Reed and Bush Warblers. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). However, the species is very variable, and it also has a buff-breasted morph, in which the supercilium and breast are warm buff, without obvious gray tones (3 Alström, P., P. C. Rasmussen, U. Olsson, and P. Sundberg (2008). Species delimitation based on multiple criteria: the Spotted Bush Warbler Bradypterus thoracicus complex (Aves: Megaluridae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 154(2):291–307. Close , 4 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2012). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. 2nd edition. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Michigan State University, and Lynx Edicions, Washington, DC, USA, Michigan, MI, USA, and Barcelona, Spain. Close ). It was previously treated as a subspecies of Spotted Bush Warbler (Locustella thoracica). Its song is distinctive, however, and it is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent, where it breeds in the Himalayas of northwestern India and Nepal (4 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2012). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. 2nd edition. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Michigan State University, and Lynx Edicions, Washington, DC, USA, Michigan, MI, USA, and Barcelona, Spain. Close , 5 Inskipp, C. and H. Chaudhary (2016). The first record of West Himalayan Bush Warbler Locustella kashmirensis for Nepal. Indian Birds 12(4–5):138–139. Close ).

Following the recent split (3 Alström, P., P. C. Rasmussen, U. Olsson, and P. Sundberg (2008). Species delimitation based on multiple criteria: the Spotted Bush Warbler Bradypterus thoracicus complex (Aves: Megaluridae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 154(2):291–307. Close ), data on the West Himalayan Bush Warbler are lacking. Although not a rare bird (4 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2012). Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. 2nd edition. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Michigan State University, and Lynx Edicions, Washington, DC, USA, Michigan, MI, USA, and Barcelona, Spain. Close ), it remains a little-known species. Its wintering grounds, breeding biology, and feeding habits are largely unknown, as well as the northwestern and southeastern ends of its breeding range, probably because of its shy and retiring nature. Its dull coloration, small size, and insect-like song are other factors which contribute to it being overlooked. Moreover, its breeding habitat is in the alpine zone, usually in excess of 3,150 m above sea level, which is difficult to access during most of the breeding season because of the monsoon (6 Abhinav, C. (2019). Notes on the identification of the Himalayan Grasshopper Warbler Locustella kashmirensis and an update on its distribution. BirdingASIA 32:41–49. Close ).