Siberian chiffchaff (''Phylloscopus collybita tristis'') is a
leaf-warbler which is usually considered a subspecies of the
common chiffchaff
The common chiffchaff (''Phylloscopus collybita''), or simply the chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic.
It is a migratory passerine which ...
, but may be a species in its own right.
Range
Siberian chiffchaff breeds in
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
east of the
Pechora River
; Komi: Печӧра; Nenets: Санэроˮ яха
, name_etymology = The Russian name of the river is a combination of two words in an old local Nenets dialect, "pe" & "chora". Literally it means "forest dweller".
, image ...
and winters in the lower
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
.
Status in Europe and North America
It is also regularly recorded in western Europe in winter, and it is likely that the numbers involved have been underestimated due to uncertainties over identification criteria, lack of good data and recording policies (
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
only accept trapped birds).
Because of their unfamiliar appearance, British records in the 1950s and 1960s were originally thought to be
greenish warbler
The greenish warbler (''Phylloscopus trochiloides'') is a widespread leaf warbler with a breeding range in northeastern Europe, and temperate to subtropical continental Asia. This warbler is strongly migratory and winters in India. It is not u ...
s, and accepted as such by
BBRC, the national
rarities committee
A bird rarities committee or bird records committee is a committee which exists to validate records of rare birds in a particular country or region.
Many countries have national rarities committees; in some areas, such as Europe, coverage is nea ...
, until the records were reviewed in the 1980s.
A
Gambell, AK bird discovered by Alexander Lin-Moore and Ethan Goodman on June 5, 2015 and seen by many birders would be the 4th (or 5th?) reported in North America.
[ ]
Appearance and vocalisations
It is a dull bird, grey or brownish above and whitish below, with little yellow in the plumage, and the buff-white supercilium is often longer than in the western subspecies. It has a higher pitched ''suitsistsuisit'' song and a short high-pitched ''cheet'' call.
It is sometimes considered to be a full species due to its distinctive plumage and vocalisations, being similar to ''P. s. sindianus'' in these respects.
[ Martens, Jochen (1982): Ringförmige Arealüberschneidung und Artbildung beim Zilpzalp, ''Phylloscopus collybita''. Das ''lorenzii''-Problem. ''Zeitschrift für Zoologische Systematik und Evolutionsforschung'' 20: 82–100.]
Taxonomy
Common chiffchaffs (of the nominate race) and Siberian chiffchaffs do not recognize each other's songs.
Pending resolution of the status of the form ''fulvescens'', which is found where the ranges of common chiffchaff (of the race ''abietinus'') and Siberian chiffchaff connect and may
[ Marova, I. M. & Leonovich, V. V. (1993) ybridization between Siberian (''Phylloscopus collybita tristis'') and East European (''Ph. collybita abietinus'') Chiffchaffs in the area of sympatry.''Sbornik Trudov Zoologicheskogo Muzeya, Moskovskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta'' 30: 147–163.] or may not
[ be a hybrid between these, ''tristis'' is maintained in ''P. collybita'' by most checklists.]
Resources
Further reading
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* Ebels, Enno (2009) "Siberische Tjiftjaffen in Nederland: voorkomen en determinatie" ''Dutch Birding'' 31(2): 86-100 (in Dutch with English summary)
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{{Taxonbar, from1=Q15708240, from2=Q2388531
Phylloscopus
Subspecies