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Green Warbler Phylloscopus nitidus Scientific name definitions

Peter Clement and Christopher J. Sharpe
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated July 31, 2015

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

10–11 cm; 6·5–9 g. A small to medium-sized leaf-warbler recalling P. trochiloides in plumage, shape and behaviour. Has long deep yellow supercilium extending beyond rear of ear-coverts, emphasized by equally long dark olive eyestripe in which whitish lower eye crescent prominent; cheek and ear-coverts also bright yellow, slight olive mottling at edges; crown and upperparts, including upperwing-coverts and edges of remiges and rectrices, bright olive-green (greyish to grey-brown when plumage worn), tips of median and greater coverts pale yellow (wingbar on medians frequently present only in fresh, spring plumage), rest of flight-feathers and tail olive-brown; whitish below, variably washed with yellow, some with yellow on chin, throat and undertail-coverts, others entirely yellow (in worn plumage yellow sometimes lacking); underwing-coverts yellow (loose feathers often showing at bend of wing); iris dark brown; upper mandible dark horn, lower mandible bright orange, yellow or pinkish; legs variable, from grey to olive-green or with yellowish rear edge, also pale brown or pinkish. Differs from P. trochiloides mainly in uniform brighter green upperparts, yellow cheeks and ear-coverts, and (in fresh plumage) heavier yellow wash on underparts. Sexes alike. Juvenile is as adult, but underparts uniformly yellow.

Systematics History

Taxonomic position uncertain; frequently considered conspecific with P. trochiloides (1), which see. Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

N Turkey and from N Caucasus S to N Georgia, also N Iran (Elburz Mts) and possibly NW & C Afghanistan and SW Pakistan (Baluchistan) (2); winters in S India (Western Ghats, Kerala, Tamil Nadu) and mainly in Sri Lanka.

Habitat

Breeds in high-altitude forest, principally of beech (Fagus), oak (Quercus) or juniper (Juniperus) with well-developed layer of undergrowth, or conifers mixed with some deciduous trees in which alder (Alnus) is present, e.g. grey alder (Alnus incana) in W Caucasus; also willows (Salix), especially along river valleys, also bushy slopes, ravines and thickets in subalpine meadows; from foothills to c. 3000 m. In non-breeding season, occurs in forest at up to 2400 m, as well as in gardens, parks, orchards and edges of cultivation.

Movement

Migratory; spends non-breeding season in S India and Sri Lanka, with small numbers also S Pakistan (S Sind). Departs from breeding areas in Aug and passage continues to early Oct, exceptionally mid-Nov. Passage through Iran from mid-Aug and in Pakistan (mainly Punjab to Sind) late Aug/early Sept to late Oct; route chiefly follows river valleys and mountain passes. Occurs widely in India and Sri Lanka from early Sept, but most arrive on wintering grounds in Oct. Return begins Mar, and non-breeding grounds largely deserted by mid-Apr; more numerous to N & E of autumn route in spring (E to Nepal, Sikkim and W Bengal) from mid-Mar to mid-May; passage through N Pakistan from end Mar to late May, and through S Caspian area from mid-Apr to mid-May (most in early May); first arrivals back in breeding areas in Caucasus and NE Turkey in late Apr, but most in first 10 days of May. Vagrant or scarce autumn passage migrant in some years in Oman, and exceptionally in mid-winter on Russian Black Sea coast; rare passage migrant Bangladesh, and extremely rare vagrant in British Is, France, Germany, Sweden, Israel and Bahrain.

Diet and Foraging

Food mostly adults and larvae of small arthropods, e.g. beetles (Coleoptera), spiders (Araneae), stoneflies (Plecoptera), moths (Lepidoptera), flies (Diptera) and small bugs (Hemiptera), including aphids (Aphidoidea). During breeding season, adult and nestling diets the same. Forages alone or in pairs; at end of breeding season and on passage, also in single-species flocks or in mixed parties with other small insectivores such as tits (Parus). Forages at all levels, but prefers upper canopy; restlessly active in search of prey, with flitting movements accompanied by flicking of wings. Most prey taken from foliage; also hovers and catches prey in flight.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song, from late Apr to end Jul, loud and sweet, with both ascending and descending chirruping notes, recalling songs of White Wagtail (Motacilla alba) and Coal Tit (Periparus ater); usually begins with “swee-oo” or “che-wee” notes, “che-wee chewee chewee chui chui chui chui”, or more drawn out with rattling “cheweeee”. Contact call a loud and high-pitched “chi-wee” or “chee-wee”, also “chirr-ir-ip”, “tissick”, “thirririp” and ringing “zilip”; when alarmed or excited a rapid and repeated “chi-vii chi-viii”, also a longer and more liquid and almost trisyllabic “chi-ru-weet”. Calls and song very similar to those of P.trochiloides (of race viridanus).

Breeding

May to late Jul. Monogamous. Territorial; territory is defended against others of genus, particularly P. collybita and P. sindianus (of race lorenzii). Male spends long periods in singing close to the nest-building female. Nest a ball mostly of dry grasses, leaves, green moss, plant fibres and animal hair, placed on ground, usually beneath tall plant, in moss on streambank or slope. Clutch 4–5 eggs, in Caucasus occasionally 6; incubation by female, period 14–16 days; chicks cared for and fed by both parents, fledging period 14–16 days. Of six nests at study site in NW Caucasus, three produced fledged young, with remainder lost to predation and through trampling by cattle.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern

Not recognized. Common or locally common. No information on total breeding population, but breeding range has spread since c. 1930 in NW Caucasus and in N Turkey to NW Anatolia; possibly breeds also in W Pakistan (Baluchistan). Few data on densities; up to 3 territories in 4 ha and 11 in 30 ha, but along river valleys counts of 7 singing males along 1 km; in Azerbaijan mountain forests densities increased with altitude, from 0·2–2·1 birds/km in lower-level forests to 6–14 birds/km medium altitudes.

Distribution of the Green Warbler - Range Map
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Distribution of the Green Warbler

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Recommended Citation

Clement, P. and C. J. Sharpe (2020). Green Warbler (Phylloscopus nitidus), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.grnwar1.01
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