Megalurinae

The Megalurinae, a subfamily of the Sylviidae, are a new group under Monroe and Sibley.

The Chinese subfamily name I use here follows Mackinnon and Phillipps. Another name is 大尾莺亚科 Dà-wěi-yīng yà-kē ('large-tailed warblers'). Japanese Internet sources give the rather inappropriate オオセッカ亜科 Ō-sekka a-ka, which I have followed even though the オオセッカ itself has been reassigned to the Acrocephalinae ! For the Vietnamese name I've tentatively used the species name of Megalurus palustris.

Originally, two species of Megalurus were recorded in this region under Howard-Moore's Sylviinae. Of these, one (Megalurus palustris) has been transferred to this subfamily; the other has been renamed and placed in the Locustella flycatchers (Acrocephalinae).

The other member of the new Megalurinae is Graminicola bengalensis, formerly placed in Howard-Moore's Sylviinae close to the Cisticola and Prinia (see Cisticolidae).

Not surprisingly, the Chinese and Vietnamese names reflect their former position in the Howard-Moore classification and not the new Sibley-Monroe grouping. The Vietnamese name for Megalurus palustris, Chiền chiện, is also used for the Cisticolidae.

The distribution of the Megalurinae in East Asia can be found at Tzung-Su Ding's Distribution of Acrocephalinae & Megalurinae in East Asia.