Family Grasshopper-warblers and Grassbirds (Locustellidae)
Vulnerable
Broad-tailed Grassbird (Schoenicola platyurus)
Taxonomy
French: Mégalure à queue large German: Rundschwanzsänger Spanish: Yerbera coliancha
Other common names:
Broad-tailed Warbler
Taxonomy:
Thimalia platyura
Jerdon
, 1841,Goodaloor, foot of Nilgiri Hills, southern India
.Often considered conspecific with S. brevirostris; critical comparison of vocalizations and DNA needed. Distinct differences exist between birds from N of range (larger, duller and greyer above, contrasting reddish-brown wings, whiter below) and those from S (rather smaller, darker reddish-brown above, buff below); significance of this, which apparently is not due to plumage wear, unclear and requires investigation. Monotypic.
Distribution:
Western Ghats of SW India, locally from W Maharashtra S to E Kerala and W Tamil Nadu.
Descriptive notes
18 cm; c. 20 g. Distinctive warbler with rear-heavy appearance created by combination of small head and bill, relatively long and broad tail (strongly graduated), and... read more
Voice
Not well documented. Song, in flight or from perch on grass or top of small bush, variable, has... read more
Habitat
Grassy and bracken-covered hillsides and ridgetops, from 900 m to 2000 m. Includes reeds and grass-... read more
Food and feeding
Poorly studied. Food small invertebrates, chiefly insects. Generally solitary, and (unless song-flighting) typically skulking. Forages on... read more
Breeding
Jul–Sept, also (from condition of specimens) Mar–May; probably double-brooded. In distinctive song flight, soars to 4–5 m... read more
Movements
Presumed resident. Individual in Nov in SE India (Point Calimere, on E coast of Tamil Nadu)... read more
Status and conservation
VULNERABLE. Restricted-range species: present in Western Ghats EBA. Precise status difficult to assess because of the species’ skulking nature and the inaccessibility... read more
Status in W. Maharashtra, Breeding Biology Notes
Recently recorded at several sites in W Maharashtra, leading to speculation that it may perhaps be more common in the unexplored grassy hills of the region than had been thought.
Original Reference as below
http://indianbirds.in/pdfs/IB1.2.AnandPrasad_Pune.pdf
Population rediscovered near Belgaum, away from the Ghats
http://indianbirds.in/pdfs/IB_12_4_5_SantETAL_BroadtailedGrassbird.pdf
where breeding observed subsequently...
A clutch-size of five eggs, an incubation period of c. 10–13 days, and a fledging period of 13 days. Female alone incubates, but the nestlings are fed by both parents.
http://indianbirds.in/pdfs/IB_13_2_SantETAL_BroadtailedGrassbird.pdf