Greenish Warbler

Greenish Warbler
: Animalia : Chordata : Aves : Passeriformes : Sylviidae : Phylloscopus : trochiloides
Binomial name
Phylloscopus trochiloides (Sundevall, 1837)

The Greenish Warbler, Phylloscopus trochiloides, is a widespread leaf warbler throughout its breeding range in northeast Europe and northern Asia.

It breeds in lowland deciduous or mixed forest. The nest is on the ground in low shrub. Like most Old World warblers, this small passerine is insectivorous.

This warbler is strongly migratory and winters in India.

This is a typical leaf warbler in appearance, greyish-green above and off-white below. Its single wing bar distinguishes it from most similar species, except Arctic Warbler, Phylloscopus borealis. It is slightly smaller than that species and has a thinner bill, without a dark tip to the lower mandible. Its song is a high jerky trill.

This species occurs as a spring or early autumn vagrant in western Europe and is annual in Great Britain.

It has a number of races, of which P. t . viridianus is the most familiar in Europe. Two of the races are sometimes given specific status. They are

• Two-barred Greenish Warbler, P. t. plumbeitarsus, of the Siberia taiga
• Green Warbler, P. t. nitidus, of the Caucasus region

Another approach to its variation is to consider it a ring species.

External link

• The greenish warbler ring species