Passeriformes / Phylloscopidae / Phylloscopus
Greenish Warbler
Phylloscopus trochiloides · 暗绿柳莺
Introduction
A widespread leaf warbler in the family Phylloscopidae with a breeding range in northeastern Europe and temperate to subtropical continental Asia. It is strongly migratory, wintering in India, and acts as a spring or early autumn vagrant in Western Europe. The species exhibits a ring species pattern around the Tibetan Plateau.
Description
Typical leaf warbler appearance, grayish-green above and off-white below. Southern and western populations possess a single wing bar. Slightly smaller than the Arctic warbler with a thinner bill lacking a dark tip on the lower mandible. Subspecies P. t. viridanus is dull green above with a yellowish supercilium, throat, breast, and faint wing bar. Subspecies P. t. trochiloides is dusky greyish green above, often showing traces of a second wing bar. Latitude-based analysis indicates northerly individuals are smaller.
Identification
Distinguished from most similar species by a single wing bar in southern and western populations, except for the Arctic warbler. Differentiated from the Arctic warbler by smaller size, thinner bill, and lack of a dark tip on the lower mandible. Song is a high jerky trill, sometimes containing down-slurred notes. Song structure differs from the two-barred warbler; this species has a fairly uniform, long, warbling song, whereas songs around the Himalayas are generally shorter.
Distribution & Habitat
Breeds in northeastern Europe and temperate to subtropical continental Asia. Winters in India. Uncommon spring or early autumn vagrant in Western Europe, annually seen in Great Britain. Large numbers of vagrants occur in Central Europe in some years, with occasional breeding in Germany. Breeds in lowland deciduous or mixed forest. Non-breeding birds in warmer parts of the range may move to montane habitats in summer, such as humid Bhutan Fir forest up to 3,800 meters ASL. Subspecies include P. t. viridianus (Western Siberia to north-east Europe), P. t. trochiloides (southern rim of Himalaya eastwards from Nepal into W China), P. t. obscuratus (Gansu and surroundings, China), and P. t. ludlowi.
Behavior & Ecology
Insectivorous. Nests on the ground in low shrub. Populations diverge east- and westwards of the Tibetan Plateau, meeting on the northern side. Hybridization occurs between subspecies trochiloides and obscuratus, and hybrids of trochiloides and viridianus are common in Baltistan. P. t. plumbeitarsus does not hybridize with viridianus in the western Sayan Mountains overlap zone.
Conservation
Assessed by BirdLife International for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2024).
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Phylloscopidae
- Genus
- Phylloscopus
Subspecies (4)
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Phylloscopus trochiloides ludlowi
breeds western Himalayas (Gilgit and Kashmir to Kumaon); winters to southern India
Data Sources
Species description from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Bird images and sounds sourced from GBIF, contributed by citizen scientists worldwide under Creative Commons licenses.
Taxonomy data from AviList 2025.
