Hippolais icterina

Hippolais icterina (*)

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Classis: Reptilia
Cladus: Eureptilia
Cladus: Romeriida
Subclassis: Diapsida
Cladus: Sauria
Infraclassis: Archosauromorpha
Cladus: Crurotarsi
Divisio: Archosauria
Cladus: Avemetatarsalia
Cladus: Ornithodira
Subtaxon: Dinosauromorpha
Cladus: Dinosauriformes
Cladus: Dracohors
Cladus: Dinosauria
Ordo: Saurischia
Cladus: Eusaurischia
Subordo: Theropoda
Cladus: Neotheropoda
Cladus: Averostra
Cladus: Tetanurae
Cladus: Avetheropoda
Cladus: Coelurosauria
Cladus: Tyrannoraptora
Cladus: Maniraptoromorpha
Cladus: Maniraptoriformes
Cladus: Maniraptora
Cladus: Pennaraptora
Cladus: Paraves
Cladus: Eumaniraptora
Cladus: Avialae
Infraclassis: Aves
Cladus: Avebrevicauda
Cladus: Pygostylia
Cladus: Ornithothoraces
Cladus: Ornithuromorpha
Cladus: Carinatae
Parvclassis: Neornithes
Cohors: Neognathae
Cladus: Neoaves
Cladus: Telluraves
Cladus: Australaves
Ordo: Passeriformes
Subordo: Passeri
Infraordo: Passerida
Superfamilia: Sylvioidea

Familia: Acrocephalidae
Genus: Hippolais
Species: Hippolais icterina
Name

Hippolais icterina (Vieillot, 1817)
Synonymy

Sylvia icterina (protonym)

References

Vieillot, L.P. 1817. Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire naturelle, appliquée aux arts, à l'agriculture, à l'économie rurale et domestique, à la médecine, etc. Par une société de naturalistes et d'agriculteurs. Avec des figures tirées des trois règnes de la nature. Tome 11. 602 pp. + 6 tt. Déterville, Paris. p. 194 BHLReference page. .

Vernacular names
Afrikaans: Spotsanger
aragonés: Barcero patiazul
العربية: خنشع ليموني
asturianu: Zarcero icterino
башҡортса: Әберсә турғайы
беларуская: Перасмешка зялёная
български: Градински присмехулник
brezhoneg: Goapaer melen
català: Bosqueta icterina
čeština: Sedmihlásek hajní
чӑвашла: Симĕс йĕкĕлти кайăк
Cymraeg: Telor aur
dansk: Gulbug
Deutsch: Gelbspötter
English: Icterine Warbler
Esperanto: Flava hipolao
español: Zarcero icterino
eesti: Käosulane
euskara: Sasi-txori horizta
فارسی: سسک یرقانی
suomi: Kultarinta
føroyskt: Gulljómari
Nordfriisk: Seesje
français: Hypolaïs ictérine
Frysk: Giele hôfsjonger
Gaeilge: Ceolaire ictireach
galego: Folosa icterina
magyar: Kerti geze
հայերեն: Մորահավ կանաչ
italiano: Canapino maggiore
日本語: キイロウタムシクイ
қазақша: Әжуан
lietuvių: Tošinukė
latviešu: Iedzeltenais ķauķis
македонски: Жолто гушанче
Nederlands: Spotvogel
norsk nynorsk: Gulsongar
norsk: Gulsanger
occitan: Bosqueta
polski: Zaganiacz zwyczajny
português: Felosa-icterina
română: Frunzăriță galbenă
русский: Зелёная пересмешка
slovenčina: Sedmohlások obyčajný
svenska: Härmsångare
Türkçe: Sarı mukallit
українська: Берестянка звичайна

The Icterine warbler (Hippolais icterina) is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler genus Hippolais. It breeds in mainland Europe except the southwest, where it is replaced by its western counterpart, the melodious warbler. It is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa.
Description

A fairly big warbler with a large head, broad-based bill and long wings with a quite short square-ended tail. The upperparts are greyish-green and the underparts are uniformly light yellow. It has pale lores and a rather vague yellowish supercilium with a pale eye ring. Other distinguishing features include a panel on the folded wings formed by pale edges to the secondary feathers and tertiary feathers and the grey, sometimes bluish legs.[2]
Habitat

The icterine warbler is a bird of woodland rather than forest, preferring woodland edge or glades, favouring the crowns of well-spaced trees with tall undergrowth. It prefers broad-leafed trees, but may be found in conifers mixed with broad-leafed trees. It will use copses, orchards, parks, gardens, shelterbelts and tall hedges interspersed with trees.[3]
Voice

The song is a fast nasal babbling incorporating mimicry of other species. The call is described as teck or tec, tec, tec.[2]
Distribution and movements

The icterine warbler has the most northerly and widespread distribution of the four Hippolais species; its breeding range extends from northern France and Norway through most of northern and eastern Europe, south as far as the northern Balkans mountains and Crimea mountains eastwards in a narrowing band to the River Ob.[3] It has bred in Scotland recently but it is normally a passage migrant in Great Britain and Ireland.[4] There is a 2022 record of the Icterine warbler from Gambell, Alaska, and it was also documented in the state the following year.[5]

It is a migratory species and the entire population winters in sub-Saharan Africa, mainly south of the equator. It begins its southward migration from late July, peaking in early August and then returns to the breeding range in late May.[3]
Biology

The icterine warbler is mainly insectivorous but will feed on fruit in late summer. It forages among the foliage taking insects either on the leaves or fluttering, and it will flycatch. In general it is clumsier than the smaller but superficially similar Phylloscopus warblers. Rather solitary, it is territorial on both the breeding and wintering grounds. Four to six eggs are laid in a nest in a tree or a bush.[3]
Etymology

The genus name Hippolais is from Ancient Greek hupolais, as misspelt by Linnaeus. It referred to a small bird mentioned by Aristotle and others and may be onomatopoeic or derived from hupo,"under", and laas, "stone". The specific icterina is Greek for "jaundice-yellow". Icterus was an old word for jaundice, and also referred to a yellowish-green bird, perhaps the golden oriole, the sight of which was believed to cure the disease.[6][7] It is colloquially referred to by birders as icky.[8]
Eggs of Icterine warbler MHNT
Hippolais icterina

The scientific name was also spelt as Hypolais icterina.[9]
References

BirdLife International (2017) [amended version of 2016 assessment]. "Hippolais icterina". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T22714916A111100735. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22714916A111100735.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
Svensson, Lars; Mullarney, Killian; Zetterstrom, Dab (2009). Collins Bird Guide (2nd ed.). HarperCollins. pp. 324–325.
Snow, D.W.; Perrins, C.M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic Concise Edition Volume 2 Passerines. Oxford University Press. pp. 12842–1284. ISBN 0-19-850188-9.
"BTO Atlas work produces Icky results". Birdguides. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
"American Birding Association Checklist Committee (CLC) Midterm Report, 2023". American Birding Association. 19 July 2023.
Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. pp. 192, 201. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
"Icterus". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
Moss, Stephen (2012). The Hedgerows Heaped with May. Aurum Press. ISBN 978-1-7813-1101-1.
See e.g. Keulemans, John Gerrard (1876). Onze vogels in huis en tuin (Our Birds in Home and Garden) (in Dutch). Vol. 3 – via Wikisource.