Gansu Leaf Warbler
Phylloscopus kansuensis
Small, confusing leaf warbler with olive-yellow upperparts, yellow brow, double wing bars, and a pale crown stripe. Extremely similar to many other small leaf warblers: Pallas’s Leaf Warbler has a brighter yellow brow stripe, and Chinese Leaf Warbler has an incrementally weaker head pattern and a small hook at the rear end of the black eye stripe. Lemon-rumped Warbler is extremely similar visually but averages paler on the brow stripe and darker on the underparts. Listen for the song, an accelerating series of sharp chips followed by a trill; its calls include a tinkling series of chips. Inhabits mid-altitude forests, usually bushy poplar and birch groves; found at lower altitudes than Chinese Leaf Warbler.
Identification
The Gansu leaf warbler (Phylloscopus kansuensis) is a small passerine bird known only from China. It belongs to the leaf warbler genus Phylloscopus within the family Phylloscopidae. It was formerly treated as a subspecies of Pallas's warbler (P. proregulus) but is now regarded as a separate species based on differences in voice and cytochrome-b gene sequences. It is 10 cm long, slightly larger than Pallas's warbler. It has greenish upperparts, pale underparts and a pale rump. The head has a long white supercilium and a pale stripe along the centre of the crown. The wings have one conspicuous wingbar, a slight second bar and whitish edges to the tertials. The song is very different from Pallas's warbler and consists of a thin, high-pitched note followed by a series of accelerating notes and finally a trill. It is known to breed only in Gansu and Qinghai provinces in northern China. Its wintering grounds are uncertain but probably lie in Yunnan province in southern China. It is found up to 3,200 metres above sea-level in deciduous forest with some spruce and juniper. It is not currently known to be threatened with extinction and so is classed as a species of Least Concern by BirdLife International.
Taxonomy
Genus: Phylloscopus; Family: Phylloscopidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Phylloscopus kansuensis
- Authority
- Meise, 1933
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Phylloscopidae
- Genus
- Phylloscopus
Range and habitat
Breeding range: PAL : nc China. Non-breeding range: sc China.
- Breeding range
- PAL : nc China
- Non-breeding range
- sc China
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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