Pallas’s Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus proregulus, Jiangsu, China, May. Pallas’s Leaf Warbler is one of the Big 5 leaf warblers of Shanghai. The species migrates through and winters in Shanghai. Northeast China and the Russian Far East are part of the breeding range of this East Asian warbler. (Craig Brelsford)
Pallas’s Leaf WarblerPhylloscopus proregulus breeds across southern Siberia and Mongolia to Sakhalin Island; in China in Heilongjiang and eastern Jilin. Winters eastern China south of Yangtze River to Southeast Asia. Common passage migrant and winter visitor Shanghai. HABITAT & BEHAVIOR Breeds in coniferous forests, to 1700 m (5,580 ft.); on passage and in winter lower and in more varied woodland habitat, including city parks. Very active, constantly moving from perch to perch; often hovers, recalling Goldcrest, with which it is sometimes seen. ID & COMPARISON Tiny, large-headed, short-tailed. The eponym of the Pallas’s Leaf Warbler Complex, of which it is the most brightly colored and boldly marked member. Has well-defined, pale-yellow central crown-stripe equally distinct throughout length, dark olive-grey lateral crown-stripes (greener or even yellowish in front), bold yellow supercilium (turning whitish posteriorly), and long, brownish-black eye-stripes that may be hooked at rear. Wings blackish-grey with prominent yellow wingbars on median and greater coverts and dark bar at base of secondaries. Tertials blackish with white fringing; also remiges (and, to lesser degree, tail feathers) tipped white when fresh. Pale yellow rump conspicuous when bird hovers, contrasting with olive-green mantle and uppertail coverts. Short, dark brownish-grey tail, lacking white. Underparts greyish-white. Pallas’s Leaf Warbler has brighter lemon-yellow supercilium and coronal crown stripe, bolder head pattern, and greener mantle, yellower wingbars, and whiter underparts than Lemon-rumped WarblerP. chloronotus, Gansu Leaf WarblerP. kansuensis, and Sichuan Leaf WarblerP. forresti. BARE PARTS Small, delicate bill brownish-black with orange base to lower mandible. Feet orange-brown, usually darker than Yellow-browed WarblerP. inornatus. Pallas’s is also smaller and more compact and has larger and rounder head, shorter bill and tail, darker and broader eye-stripe, and broader supercilium than Yellow-browed Warbler. VOICE Song a loud, melodious series of trills and whistles, sometimes lasting several minutes, and delivered from concealed perch in canopy. Call a soft, nasal, distinctly up-turned dweet, repeated incessantly. — Craig Brelsford
On Tuesday I arrived at Cape Nanhui too late to see Crow-billed Drongo. My partners Kai Pflug and Elaine Du and I made the fateful decision to cover Hengsha Island in the morning. The alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze was decidedly humdrum, with Far Eastern Curlew out on the mud along with 2 Sanderling and a Ruddy Turnstone. The huge new tree plantation on the island failed to deliver any forest birds beyond a single Asian Brown Flycatcher. There was a good count (17) of Richard’s Pipit.
We arrived at Cape Nanhui and found kaca, who mentioned an unusual drongo he had seen that morning. We kept our eyes peeled for dark drongos, finding none. Our Nanhui harvest was limited to expected October birds such as Grey-backed Thrush (6) and Eyebrowed Thrush (2). Asian Brown Flycatcher (26) seemed to be on every tree.
All of Shanghai’s Big 5 Leaf Warblers were present: Pallas’s Leaf Warbler (1), Yellow-browed Warbler (1), Arctic-type Warbler (2), Pale-legged/Sakhalin Leaf Warbler (7), and Eastern Crowned Warbler (2).
We had 3 Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, Elaine’s and my season’s first Daurian Redstart, Asian Stubtail, and Rufous-tailed Robin.
PHOTOS
On Tuesday, while kaca was discovering Crow-billed Drongo at Cape Nanhui, I was getting this photo on Hengsha, the alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze River. From the island we could see the Yangtze in front of us and the Pudong skyline at a distance of 38 km (24 mi.). (Craig Brelsford)Pallas’s Leaf Warbler preening after completing another leg of its long migratory flight. Magic Parking Lot (30.884992, 121.968317), Cape Nanhui, 11 Oct. (Craig Brelsford)Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, Magic GPS Point (30.880563, 121.964551), Cape Nanhui, Tuesday. This is a female showing a clear demarcation between dark breast and white belly, faint rufous flanks, a dark mantle, and sooty primary coverts. For more on identifying paradise flycatchers in Shanghai, see our recent post, ID Workshop: Paradise Flycatchers. (Craig Brelsford)
Be notified every time we post. Send an
email with “Subscribe” as the subject to info@shanghaibirding.com
