Schoenicola platyurus
The Broad-tailed Grassbird (Schoenicola platyurus) is a distinctive, medium-sized Old World warbler, renowned for its exceptionally broad and graduated tail. Measuring approximately 18 cm in length and weighing between 14-20 grams, its most striking feature is this fanned tail, which is significantly wider than that of other grassbirds. Its plumage is generally plain brown, heavily streaked with dark brown on the upperparts, contrasting with a rufous-brown rump. Pale underparts, a faint super...
This species primarily inhabits tall, dense, often wet grasslands, reed beds, and areas with rank, coarse vegetation, typically near water bodies. It can be found from lowlands up to around 1800 meters in elevation.
The Broad-tailed Grassbird feeds primarily on small insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, caterpillars, and ants, along with spiders. It forages by gleaning these invertebrates from foliage and stems within its dense grass habitat.
The Broad-tailed Grassbird is a notoriously shy and secretive species, typically skulking deep within dense vegetation during the day, making direct observation challenging. It primarily forages for insects and spiders by gleaning from the stems and leaves of tall grasses and reeds, moving stealt...
The Broad-tailed Grassbird exhibits a highly disjunct distribution across South and Southeast Asia, inhabiting fragmented patches of suitable grassland habitat. In the Indian subcontinent, it is resident primarily in the Western Ghats of India, from southern Maharashtra south through Kerala, and ...
Vulnerable
- Its species name "platyurus" is derived from Greek, meaning "broad-tailed," a direct reference to its most striking physical feature. - Despite its loud, far-carrying song, this bird is notoriously difficult to spot, often only glimpsed as it rapidly darts between dense grass stems. - The male'...