Taxonomy
nesillas-aldabrana
Morphology
- Classic 'little brown job'
- Long-billed, long-tailed, brownish warbler
- Upperparts warm mid-brown, with touch of rufous
- Underparts buffish grey-white
- Prominent pale supercilium
- Sexes similar
- Juvenile plumage undescribed
Diagnostic description
Generally similar to other Nesillas warblers, but with relatively long wings and legs and markedly long bill and tail.
No potential confusion species are resident on Aldabra and other warblers are extremely rare even as vagrants.
Evolution
The genus Nesillas is restricted to the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, the Comoro archipelago and Aldabra and appears to have a sister relationship to other acrocephaline genera such as Acrocephalus and Hippolais. Nesillas itself traditionally comprises about eight taxa, grouped into five or six species, but no comprehensive molecular study of evolution within the genus has yet been published.