Ijima’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus ijimae 飯島柳鶯
Category I. Accidental.
IDENTIFICATION
Apr. 2015, Kinni Ho.
11-12 cm. Resembles Eastern Crowned Warbler but lacks crown stripe and has greyer mantle and more greenish-tinged undertail coverts. Eye stripe broad behind eye, but darker and notably narrow along whole length in front, bisecting the lores. One narrow indistinct wing bar. Bill rather broad-based with entirely pale mandible.
VOCALISATIONS
The call is a moderately high-pitched ‘tsoo’ that falls slightly in pitch.
There are several types of song strophe, the most common two of which are in this recording.
DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE
The only record occurred on Po Toi.
OCCURRENCE
The sole record is of one on Po Toi from 29 March to 4 April 2015 (Yam 2017).
BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET
No information.
RANGE & SYSTEMATICS
Monotypic. Breeds on the Izu Islands and Nakanoshima, Tokaria Islands, Japan. In China it is occasional in Taiwan (Ding et al. 2020), while Liu and Chen (2020) consider it likely to be migrant along the southeast coast.
CONSERVATION STATUS
IUCN: VULNERABLE. Population of 2,500 to 9,999 birds that is decreasing due to habitat loss and possibly pesticide use and trapping during migration.
Ding, T. S., Juan, C. S., Lin, R. S., Tsai, Y. J., Wu, J. L., Wu, J. and Yang, Y. H. (2020). The 2020 CWBF Checklist of the Birds of Taiwan. Bird Record Committee, Chinese Wild Bird Federation, Taipei. Downloaded at: https://www.bird.org.tw/report/2020/english
Liu, Y. and Chen, Y. H. (eds) (2020). The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China (in Chinese). Hunan Science and Technology Publication House, Changsha.
Yam, W. Y. (2017). Ijima’s Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus ijimae on Po Toi Island. The first Hong Kong record. Hong Kong Bird Report 2015: 302-303.
