The Pallas's leaf warbler or Pallas's warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) is a bird that breeds in mountain forests

from southern Siberia east to northern Mongolia and northeastern China. It is named for German zoologist Peter
Simon Pallas, who first formally described it. This leaf warbler is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in southern
China and adjacent areas of southeast Asia, although in recent decades increasing numbers have been found in
Europe in autumn.
Pallas's leaf warbler is one of the smallest Eurasian warblers, with a relatively large head and short tail. It has
greenish upperparts and white underparts, a lemon-yellow rump, and yellow double wingbars, supercilia and central
crown stripe. It is similar in appearance to several other Asian warblers, including some that were formerly considered
to be its subspecies, although its distinctive vocalisations aid identification.
The female builds a cup nest in a tree or bush, and incubates the four to six eggs, which hatch after 1213 days. The
chicks are fed mainly by the female and fledge when they are 1214 days old; both parents then bring food for about
a week. Pallas's leaf warbler is insectivorous, feeding on the adults, larvae and pupa of small insects and spiders.
Birds forage in bushes and trees, picking items from leaves or catching prey in short flights or while hovering. The
Pallas's leaf warbler has a large range, and its numbers are believed to be stable. It therefore is evaluated as of "least
concern" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Contents
[hide]

1Taxonomy
2Description
3Distribution and habitat
o 3.1Other movements
4Behaviour
o 4.1Breeding
o 4.2Feeding
5Status
6Notes
7References
8Cited texts
9Further reading
10External links

Taxonomy[edit]
The English name of Pallas's leaf warbler commemorates the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas, who found it on
the Ingoda River in Siberia in May 1772.[a] He named the new species as Motacilla proregulus when he finally
published his findings in 1811.[3] The current genus name Phylloscopus is from Ancient Greek phullon, "leaf",
and skopos, "seeker" (from skopeo, "to watch"). The specific proregulus is from Greek pro, "close to", and the
name regulus, referring to the similar-looking goldcrest, Regulus regulus.[4]
First described by German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1826, the genus Phylloscopus comprises about 50 species of
small insectivorous Old World woodland warblers that are either greenish or brown above and yellowish, white or buff
below. The genus was formerly part of the Old World warbler family Sylvidae, but has now been split off as a
separate family, the Phylloscopidae.[5]
Within the genus, Pallas's leaf warbler is one of a group of similar tiny Asiatic species characterised by a yellow rump,
a strong supercilium (stripe over the eye), double wing bars and a stripe on the crown of the head,[6] once separated
as the genus Abrornis but currently retained in Phylloscopus.[7][8]
Pallas's leaf warbler was itself formerly treated as a complex of several subspecies with the nominate form P. p.
proregulus breeding in northern Asia and other subspecies breeding much further south at high altitudes in the
mountains from the western Himalayas east to western China (Yunnan and north to Gansu and Hebei).[9][10]
Although nineteenth-century field naturalists such as Gilbert White and William Edwin Brooks had noted the
importance of calls in separating often very similar-looking leaf warblers,[11][12] for many years their views were not
always accepted by the ornithological establishment.[13] More recently, vocalisations have become increasingly
important in taxonomy. In the case of the former subspecies of Pallas's leaf warbler, even though they differ only
slightly in plumage, the southern forms are very distinctive vocally. Their songs and calls differ from those of the
nominate race, and DNA analysis from 2006 has confirmed these forms to be sufficiently distinct that they are now
treated as separate species, leaving Pallas's leaf warbler as a monotypic taxon. The split species are:[10][14][15]

Lemon-rumped warbler Phylloscopus chloronotus. Himalayas, southwest China. Three subspecies, P. c.

chloronotus, P. c. forresti and P. c. simlaensis.
Gansu leaf warbler Phylloscopus kansuensis. Central western China, monotypic.
Chinese leaf warbler Phylloscopus yunnanensis (synonym P. sichuanensis). Western China, monotypic.
Of these, Phylloscopus chloronotus forresti is possibly also a separate species, but further analysis is required to
confirm this. The breeding ranges of the Gansu leaf warbler and the Chinese leaf warbler overlap in southern Gansu,
but the species are separated ecologically: the Gansu leaf warbler is found in taller forest habitats and the Chinese
leaf warbler uses lower, often scrubby habitats.[10] "Lemon-rumped warbler" was sometimes used as synonym for
Pallas's leaf warbler before the species' split.[16] Pallas's leaf warbler appears to have diverged from the Chinese leaf
warbler 4.15.5 million years ago, and from its other former subspecies about 1.73.2 million years ago.[15]

Description[edit]

Showing head stripes

Pallas's leaf warbler is one of the smallest warblers, with a large head and short tail. [17] At 910 centimetres (3.5
3.9 in) long and 47 grams (0.140.25 oz) in weight, it is slightly smaller than a yellow-browed warbler and barely any
larger than a goldcrest. It has greenish upperparts and white underparts, but is very striking, with prominent pale
yellow double wingbars on the wing covert feathers, bold yellow supercilia and central crown stripe, and a lemon-
yellow rump.[17][18] The bill is blackish-brown with a yellowish tinge to the cutting edges and the base of the
lower mandible, the iris is brown, and the legs are brown with a green or greyish tinge.[16] Although the yellow rump is
obvious when a bird is low in vegetation or hovering, it can otherwise be hard to see.[17]
In Asia, Pallas's leaf warbler can be distinguished from its former subspecies by its yellower head stripes, wingbars
and throat as well as its different vocalisations.[18] Other yellow-rumped Asiatic warblers resemble Pallas's; buff-
barred and Brooks's leaf warblers are larger, much duller green above and less strongly marked, and their wing bars
are buff and white respectively, not yellow. Ashy-throated warbler has grey head markings, face and throat, and pale
yellow underparts.[16]
The sexes of Pallas's leaf warbler have similar plumage, but non-breeding birds are somewhat brighter green above
and have broad, bright fringes to their flight feathers. Juveniles are like the adults, but have a brown tinge to the
upperparts, greyish-white underparts and a duller supercilium. Adults have a complete post-breeding moult in August
or September before migrating south. Juveniles and pre-breeding adults have a partial moult in March or April,
replacing all the body plumage and some tail feathers.[16]
The song of Pallas's leaf warbler is delivered from a concealed perch near the top of a tall tree. [19] It is strong and
prolonged, with a medley of whistles, tirrit-tirrt-tirrit-terchee-choo-choo-chee-chee-chee or similar, with some phrases
reminiscent of a canary, and interspersed trills. It lasts 24 seconds and may be heard in the winter quarters as well
as from breeding birds.[20] The call is a short, soft dju-ee.[16] In contrast, the former subspecies have quite different
songs, with sustained rattles for several seconds, or sometimes minutes. Their calls are typically sharp and
monosyllabic.[21][22]

Distribution and habitat[edit]

Siberian taiga woodland

Pallas's leaf warbler breeds in coniferous taiga forests including fir, spruce, pine and larch, or in mixed forest
with rhododendron, karshu oak and a high percentage of conifers. In southern Russia, it was found breeding at up to
1,5001,700 metres (4,9005,600 ft). In winter, it uses a wider range of habitats, including broadleaf forest and scrub
as well as conifers, and can be found in river valleys down to 100 metres (330 ft).[16][18]
Pallas's leaf warbler breeds in Siberia from the Altai mountains east to the Sea of Okhotsk, northern Mongolia,
northeastern China and possibly North Korea. It is strongly migratory and winters mainly in subtropical southern
China, northern Thailand and elsewhere in northeastern Indochina.[18] It is rare but annual in Japan.[19]

Other movements[edit]

From John Gould's 1837 illustration of "Dalmatian Regulus"[b]

Pallas's leaf warbler now occurs regularly in Europe in autumn. The first known European record was shot in 1829
in Dalmatia, now Croatia, but John Gould, who formally described it, did not realise the species had already been
discovered in Asia, and named it as the "Dalmatian Regulus", Regulus modestus.[24] German ornithologist Heinrich
Gtke, who moved to the then-British island of Heligoland in 1837 and stayed there for some fifty years, subsequently
showed that several Asiatic species, including an occasional Pallas's leaf warbler, were regularly found there in
autumn.[25][26]
In the far west of Europe, the UK's first Pallas's leaf warbler was shot in 1896,[27] although it was not until 1951 that
the second was found.[28]Thereafter, this species became increasingly common, ceasing to be a national rarity at the
end of 1990.[29] In 2003, for example, 313 were recorded in Britain. [30] Pallas's leaf warbler also occurs at least
annually in Sweden, Finland and Denmark.[31]
Most Pallas's leaf warblers found in Europe are first-year birds,[31] and several reasons for the large increase in
numbers in autumn have been proposed. In the past, these warblers were widely considered to
be vagrants or reverse migrants, but were more recently thought to be undertaking a regular migration, taking
advantage of the mild oceanic climate on the western fringes of Europe for overwintering.[32] A flaw in that theory is
that many birds should winter in Spain, particularly in the northwest, but Pallas's leaf warbler is rare in that country
and tends to occur in the east. Spanish ornithologist Eduardo de Juana has therefore proposed that once the
warblers reach northwest Europe, they then reorientate to a south easterly direction. [33]
Outside Europe, Pallas's leaf warbler has been recorded as a vagrant in Tunisia, [1] Morocco, Israel, Turkey, Iran,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Taiwan, and Alaska.[18]

Behaviour[edit]
Pallas's leaf warbler is not wary but its unobtrusive arboreal lifestyle makes it difficult to observe, particularly in thick
foliage. It is constantly in motion, and often hovers briefly like a goldcrest, although more frequently, [20] and may
sometimes hang upside-down.[17]

Breeding[edit]
Nesting is from June to July, with eggs laid from mid-June. The nest is built by the female in a conifer, usually next to
the trunk at 0.510 metres (1.632.8 ft) above ground, sometimes in a bush. It is a round or elliptical cup made from
twigs, leaves and other vegetation and lined with finer material including feathers, hair or fine grasses. [18] Four to six
blue-grey flecked white eggs are laid and incubated by the female.[34] They hatch after 1213 days, with the
chicks fledging when 1214 days old. They are fed mainly by the female while in the nest, but by both parents for
about a week after fledging. In the south of the range, a pair may sometimes raise a second brood. The breeding
territory in central Siberia is usually 35 hectares (7.412.4 acres), infrequently as much as 10 hectares (25 acres).[18]
Pallas's leaf warbler, as with other members of its genus, is a host of the oriental cuckoo, a brood parasite.[35] The
cuckoo's egg is similar in appearance, though larger, to those of the host species. [34]

Feeding[edit]
Like its relatives, Pallas's leaf warbler is insectivorous, feeding on the adults, larvae and pupa of small insects
including flies, moths and aphids; spiders are also taken. Birds forage in bushes and trees, picking items from leaves
or catching prey in short flights or while hovering. When not breeding, they may join mixed-species foraging
flocks together with tits, goldcrests and other warblers.[18][20] In Asia, accompanying species may also include white-
eyes, minivets and babblers.[36]

Status[edit]
The Pallas's leaf warbler has a large range, and although global population trends have not been quantified, numbers
are believed to be stable. This species does not approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of
the IUCN Red List (that is, declining more than 30 percent in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, it is
evaluated as of "least concern" by the IUCN.[1]
Pallas's leaf warbler is widespread, common and locally abundant in Russia and northeast China. Breeding densities
of up to 3550 pairs/km2 (90130 pairs/mi2) have been recorded in southeast Russia, with only slightly lower figures
in Siberia. It is locally common in parts of its wintering grounds in southeast Asia. [18]

Notes[edit]
1. Jump up^ Pallas led a scientific expedition to Siberia, sponsored by Catherine the Great, between 1768 and 1774.[2]
2. Jump up^ Gould did the preliminary sketch, his wife Elizabeth completed the detailed final painting.[23]

References[edit]
1. ^ Jump up to:a b c