In China, Yellow-streaked Warbler Phylloscopus armandii perplexus breeds Ningxia and Hubei south to Yunnan and southeast Tibet. Winters southern and western Yunnan and Guizhou. Nominate breeds eastern Tibet and eastern Qinghai to Liaoning; winters western and southern Yunnan. HABITAT Breeds in thickets of poplar and willow, to 3500 m (11,480 ft.); non-breeding below 1500 m (4,920 ft.). ID & COMPARISON Very similar to Radde’s Warbler P. schwarzi. Distinguished by slightly smaller size and head, thinner bill and legs, proportionately longer tail, more uniformly colored buffish supercilium, and faint yellow streaking on throat, breast, and sometimes belly (not always apparent in worn individuals). Supercilium may show some contrast, being buffier anteriorly and whiter posteriorly, though generally contrasts less than Radde’s. Buff-throated Warbler P. subaffinis, Sulphur-bellied Warbler P. griseolus, and Tickell’s Leaf Warbler P. affinis all show clear yellow in supercilium and have finer bill and legs. Buff-throated and Tickell’s also greener above. BARE PARTS Short bill shows decurved culmen and is brown above, yellowish brown below. Feet yellowish-brown, sometimes a bit lighter than Radde’s. VOICE Song very similar to Radde’s, but weaker and often introduced by call; tzic call more bunting-like than similar call of Radde’s and Dusky Warbler P. fuscatus. — Craig Brelsford
SOUND-RECORDING
Yellow-streaked Warbler Phylloscopus armandii perplexus, Baizha Nature Reserve (31.964250, 96.573340), Qinghai, China, July, by Craig Brelsford (0:36; 3 MB)
THE LEAF WARBLERS OF CHINA
shanghaibirding.com has research on most members of Phylloscopus in China. Click any link:
Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix
Buff-barred Warbler P. pulcher
Ashy-throated Warbler P. maculipennis
Hume’s Leaf Warbler P. humei
Yellow-browed Warbler P. inornatus
Chinese Leaf Warbler P. yunnanensis
Lemon-rumped Warbler P. chloronotus
Sichuan Leaf Warbler P. forresti
Gansu Leaf Warbler P. kansuensis
Pallas’s Leaf Warbler P. proregulus
Yellow-streaked Warbler P. armandii
Radde’s Warbler P. schwarzi
Sulphur-bellied Warbler P. griseolus
Tickell’s Leaf Warbler P. affinis
Smoky Warbler P. fuligiventer
Dusky Warbler P. fuscatus
Buff-throated Warbler P. subaffinis
Willow Warbler P. trochilus
Mountain Chiffchaff P. sindianus
Common Chiffchaff P. collybita
Eastern Crowned Warbler P. coronatus
Ijima’s Leaf Warbler P. ijimae
White-spectacled Warbler P. intermedius
Grey-cheeked Warbler P. poliogenys
Green-crowned Warbler P. burkii
Grey-crowned Warbler P. tephrocephalus
Whistler’s Warbler P. whistleri
Bianchi’s Warbler P. valentini
Alström’s Warbler P. soror
Martens’s Warbler P. omeiensis
Two-barred Warbler P. plumbeitarsus
Greenish Warbler P. trochiloides
Emei Leaf Warbler P. emeiensis
Large-billed Leaf Warbler P. magnirostris
Sakhalin Leaf Warbler P. borealoides
Pale-legged Leaf Warbler P. tenellipes
Japanese Leaf Warbler P. xanthodryas
Kamchatka Leaf Warbler P. examinandus
Arctic Warbler P. borealis
Chestnut-crowned Warbler P. castaniceps
Limestone Leaf Warbler P. calciatilis
Sulphur-breasted Warbler P. ricketti
Yellow-vented Warbler P. cantator
Blyth’s Leaf Warbler P. reguloides
Claudia’s Leaf Warbler P. claudiae
Hartert’s Leaf Warbler P. goodsoni
Kloss’s Leaf Warbler P. ogilviegranti
Hainan Leaf Warbler P. hainanus
Davison’s Leaf Warbler P. davisoni
Grey-hooded Warbler P. xanthoschistos
RESOURCES ON LEAF WARBLERS
Use Per Alström’s 40-page presentation on the leaf warblers of China. The document is available in PDF and jpeg:
Presentation on the Identification of Leaf Warblers in China, by Per Alström (PDF version)
Presentation on the Identification of Leaf Warblers in China, by Per Alström (zip folder containing jpegs that can be synced like photos to one’s smartphone)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Daniel Bengtsson served as chief ornithological consultant for Craig Brelsford’s Photographic Field Guide to the Birds of China, from which this species description is drawn.
