How many chiffchaff-species?

oscar van rootselaar (Oscar.vanRootselaar@FA.SLM.WAU.NL)
Thu, 12 Feb 1998 08:54:27 +0000

Messages sorted by: [ date ][ thread ][ subject ][ author ]
Next message: Scott Weidensaul: "Bamboo-seed specialist refs?"
Previous message: greaves@silcom.com: "Re: Wing Tags"

Dear readers,

The next palearctic species with a complex taxonomy urgently
needing clarification, following Larus heuglini (and others),
might indeed be Phylloscopus collybita. For this species too,
we should first see what there is to discuss, before we plunge
in to a pile of vague arguments for and against `splits' and
`lumps'. Therefore, I have prepared another overview to serve
the discussion.

Traditionally, within the chiffchaffs, we had only one species
to consider (in 1 genus: Phylloscopus Boie 1826), covering
large parts of Europe, Asia Minor and the Far East (e.g.
Vaurie 1959; Gruson 1976: 125 and Walters 1980: 224). Since
then, however, things have started to change a little, with
first the splitting of sindianus into a separate species,
suggested by Williamson in 1967 (and followed by Peters 1986:
230, Cramp (1992) BWP V: 605-639 and Sibley & Monroe 1990:
620). The latter, however, have corrected their views in their
1993 supplement (p. 69), where they include sindianus in
collybita again (as did Glutz, Bauer & Bezzel (1991) Handbuch
12/II: 1232-1292), but now split lorenzii as a distinct,
monotypic species. This treatment has been supported by
Roselaar in his Songbirds of Turkey (pp. 124-127) and a few
others.

The OBC-Checklist (Inskipp et al., p. 172) even mentions
tristis as a candidate for separating as a distinct species
(as did Wolters (1980) Vogelarten der Erde, p. 364) although
further studies seem to be necessary. Beaman managed to
summarize the vocal differences in his Palearctic Birds (pp.
87-88), but the results are by far not conclusive for any
definitive treatment recently proposed ("... if lorenzii
deserves specific status then so may canariensis (together
with exsul), tristis, sindianus and possibly brehmii..."). See
also British Birds 79/7: 340-342 on (aberrant) chiffchaff
vocalizations and British Birds 90/1-2: 72 on the recently
proposed split into four chiffchaff species.

Considering the above arguments and developments, we could
divide the chiffchaffs into three groups (not species!),
probably (but certainly not necessarily) as sequenced below.
Thus, for now, we have the following 16 forms to consider
(preferably all within one species):

Group 1: western or green chiffchaffs:
1. Phylloscopus collybita canariensis (Hartwig) 1886
2. Phylloscopus collybita exsul Hartert 1907
3. Phylloscopus collybita brehmii (Homeyer) 1871
3a. Phylloscopus collybita ibericus Ticehurst 1937
4. Phylloscopus collybita collybita (Vieillot) 1817
5. Phylloscopus collybita brevirostris (Strickland) 1837

Group 2: eastern or brown chiffchaffs:
6. Phylloscopus collybita abietinus (Nilsson) 1819
6a. Phylloscopus collybita caucasica Loskot 1991
6b. Phylloscopus collybita fulvescens (Severtzov) 1873
7. Phylloscopus collybita tristis Blyth 1843
7a. Phylloscopus collybita naevia Severtzov 1873
7b. Phylloscopus collybita altaiana Sushkin 1925
7c. Phylloscopus collybita menzbieri Shestoperov 1937

Group 3: southern chiffchaffs:
8. Phylloscopus collybita lorenzii (Lorenz) 1887
9. Phylloscopus collybita sindianus Brooks 1879
9a. Phylloscopus collybita subsindianus Zarudny 1913

For ease of reference (and as a starting point for further
studies) I have gathered some details on the aforementioned 16
forms. In this respect, it would also be interesting to see
how the new Helm Identification Guide "Warblers of Europe,
Asia and North Africa" by Kevin Baker will treat the
chiffchaffs, but I haven't seen it in my local bookstore yet.
Furthermore, Peter Clement & Andreas Helbig are preparing a
paper for British Birds on chiffchaff identification.

Anyhow, in the list below, the data are divided into four
headings: a) for original scientific citation with author,
year, reference and type locality; b) for distribution; c) for
names; and d) for additional comments. The sequence generally
follows Peters (not Howard & Moore, Birds of the World). The
taxa that I consider valid subspecies (at least for the time
being) have their own number, while the ones I consider
synonyms have a letter (a, b, c) attached to the digit of the
subspecies to which I consider them synonymous (but that, of
course, is what it's all about, and thus open to any differing
opinion).

But here again, we urgently need outdoor ornithologists who
will take the time (and trouble!) to study the birds in the
field... (which I am not able to (or qualified for), hence my
humble contribution through this medium).

1. Phylloscopus collybita canariensis (Hartwig) 1886

a) Phyllopneuste rufa canariensis W. Hartwig, 1886,
Journal f=FCr Ornithologie, Vol. 34, p. 486 (Tenerife).

b) Western Canary Islands: El Hierro, La Palma, La Gomera,
Tenerife and Gran Canaria.

c) Du: Canarische Tjiftjaf; En: Canary Islands Chiffchaff;
Fr: Pouillot des Canaries; local names: hornero,
chivita, cagona & mosquita.

d) Illustrated in Moreno (Gu=EDa de las Aves de las Islas
Canarias, p. 67) and Heinzel, Fitter & Parslow (5th
ed., p. 297). The author's name is sometimes spelled
"Hartweig".

2. Phylloscopus collybita exsul Hartert 1907

a) Phylloscopus collybita exsul Ernst Johann Otto Hartert,
1907, V=F6g. pal. Fauna, p. 505 (Lanzarote, Eastern
Canaries).

b) Eastern Canary Islands: Fuerteventura and Lanzarote
(Valle de Har=EDa).

d) More chestnut-backed and shorter-winged than
canariensis. Now probably extinct. Illustrated in
Heinzel, Fitter & Parslow (5th ed., p. 297).

3. Phylloscopus collybita brehmii (Homeyer) 1871

a) Phyllopneuste Brehmii Eugen Ferdinand von Homeyer,
1871, Erinnerungsschrift Versammlung Deutschen
Ornithologen (G=F6rlitz), 1870, p. 48 (Portugal).

b) From the western Pyrenees south to several scattered
locations on the northwest African coastline.

c) Du: Iberische Tjiftjaf; En: Iberian Chiffchaff; Fr:
Pouillot ib=E9rique.

d) No a single known recent fieldguide illustrates this
form (so what are we talking about?). Erroneously
listed as "Homeyer 1870" by Cramp.

3a. Phylloscopus collybita ibericus Ticehurst 1937

a) Phylloscopus collybita ibericus Claud Buchanan
Ticehurst, 1937, Bull. Brit. Orn. Club, Vol. 57, p. 64
(Paul d'Argila, near Coimbra, Portugal).

b) Iberia, Algeria

c) Ge: Iberischen Zilpzalp (Limicola 6: 303).

d) Recognized in Howard & Moore 1984 (where brehmii is
not).

4. Phylloscopus collybita collybita (Vieillot) 1817

a) Sylvia collybita Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot, 1817,
Nouveau Dictionaire d'Histoire Naturelle, nouvelle
=E9dition, vol. 11, p. 235 ("r=E9gions septentrionales" of
France, restricted to Normandy by No=EBl Mayaud, 1941,
L'Oiseau, vol. 11, num=E9ro sp=E9ciale, p. 87[-89]).

b) Western Europe from Ireland east to Poland and Rumania,
ranging north to Denmark and south to France, Italy and
Greece. Wintering in northern Africa.

c) The following names are known to me (Alphabetically).
Cs: Budnicek mens=ED; Dk: Gransanger; Du: Tjiftjaf; En:
Chiffchaff, Chipchop & Lesser Pettychaps; Fr: Pouillot
v=E9loce; Ge: Zilpzalp & Weidenlaubs=E4nger; Hu: Csilp-
csalp f=FCzike; Isl: Grans=F6ngvari; Isr: Alvit Horef; It:
Lu=EC piccolo; Malta: Vjolin tax-xitwa; No: Gransanger;
Pl: Pierwiosnek & Swistunka w=F3jcik; Po: Felosa &
Fuinha; Ro: Pitulice mica; Ru: Penochka-tenkovka; Sf:
Tiltaltti; Sp: Mosquitero Com=FAn & Mosquilla; Sw:
Grans=E5ngare; Tu: Cif Caf; Yu: Zvizdak obicni.
Scientific synonyms are: fusca Saban=E9eff, middendorfi,
nemorosus, rufus auct. (Eversmann, Latham, Meyer, not
of Gmelin, 1789; possibly a synonym of brevirostris)
and sylvestris.

d) Cheng (Synopsis Avifauna China) lists "Vieilot 1817
NDHN 6: 258", not 11: 235. Sometimes erroneously
spelled collybitus (e.g. Howard & Moore).

5. Phylloscopus collybita brevirostris (Strickland) 1837

a) Sylvia brevirostris Hugh Edwin Strickland, 1837, Proc.
Zool. Soc. London, p. 98 (near Smyrna, Turkey).

b) Northwestern Turkey, wintering in Persia & Arabia
(Tristram, Eastern Persia, Vol. II, p. 181) and Israel
(Tristram, 1877, Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., p. 28).

d) Closer to abietinus than to lorenzii, but possibly also
related to the latter. Erroneously listed as
"Strickland 1836" in Cramp. Michel Menzbier (1882,
Revue comparative de la faune ornithologique des
Gouvernements de Moscou et de Toula) has published a
description of over 40 birds in Izdanje Imperatorskago
Moskovsk. Ovsjestva Ispytatelej Prirodi, Vol. LVI
(1881), No. 3, pp. 23-24. For Birding World, there is a
paper in preparation on this form, compared to lorenzii
(BW 9/6: 246), for which good photographs are urgently
needed (BW 10/6: 201).

6. Phylloscopus collybita abietinus (Nilsson) 1819

a) Sylvia abietina Sven Nilsson, 1819, K. Vetenskaps Acad.
Nya Handlingar, Stockholm, p. 115 ("north of Trondheim,
in the spruce forests of Stj=80rdalen, Inder=80ya, and
Namdalen, Norway"; erroneously said to be Sweden in
Ticehurst, 1938, p. 42; restricted to Stj=80rdalen (=3D
Stj=80rdal, Nord-Tr=80ndelag, Norway) by Holgersen, 1955,
Sterna, 18, p. 3).

b) Scandinavia and eastern Europe (from Poland & Romania)
east to somewhere between the Pechora and the Ob (Ural
Mountains?) and possibly in the Caucasus; wintering in
Arabia and Somalia.

6a. Phylloscopus collybita caucasica Loskot 1991

a) Phylloscopus collybita caucasica V.M. Loskot, 1991,
Phylloscopus collybita caucasica: new subspecies of
Chiffchaff (Aves, Sylviinae). Vestnik Zoologie, Vol. 3,
p. 91 (Caucasus).

b) Lower zone in the Caucasus, altitudinally separated
from lorenzii in most areas.

d) Recently split from abietinus. Intermediate in
appearance between abietinus and trists or lorenzii
(probably not safely separable), and where caucasica
and lorenzii come into contact further study is
necessary to establish their taxonomic relationship.

6b. Phylloscopus collybita fulvescens (Severtzov) 1873

a) Ficedula (Phyllopneuste) fulvescens Nicolai Severtzov,
1873, Izvestiia Imp. Obshchestva Liubitelei Estest.
Antrop. Etnogr., Moscow, Vol. 8, pt. 2 (1872), p. 126
(Turkistan).

b) Northeastern European Soviet Union from the Ural east
through Siberia (Yenisey valley), grading into tristis.

d) Possibly synonymous with tristis. Erroneously listed as
"Severtzov 1872" by Cramp.

7. Phylloscopus collybita tristis Blyth 1843

a) Ph[ylloscopus]. tristis Edward Blyth, 1843, Journ.
Asiat. Soc. Bengal, Vol. 12, p. 966 (Calcutta).

b) North-central Asia, from the Yenisey east to the Kolyma
River; wintering in northern India and Bangladesh.
Possible vagrant to Greece.

c) Du: Siberische Tjiftjaf; En: Siberian Chiffchaff; Fr:
Pouillot de Sib=E9rie.

d) Sometimes treated as a distinct species. Illustrated in
Heinzel, Fitter & Parslow (5th ed., p. 297). Early
reports (Meves, 1875, Journ. f. Orn., p. 430) mention
this form from around Perm 56=B0E, 57=B0N). Song recorded
on K. Mild (1987) Soviet Bird Songs, no. 86. See also
Birding World 10/4: 153-154 for occurrence in Britain.

7a. Phylloscopus collybita naevia Severtzov 1873

a) Ficedula fulvescens (et var. naevia) Nicolai Severtzov,
1872 (1873), Vertikalnoje i Gorizontalnoje
Raspredylenie Turkestanskichr Zjivotnychr [The
Distribution of Animals of Turkestan], p. 126
(Turkestan, U.S.S.R.).

b) Turkestan, between Lake Aral and Lake Balchasj.

d) Merely listed as a synonym of tristis in Cheng (p.
798), but might also be related to sindianus.

7b. Phylloscopus collybita altaiana Sushkin 1925

a) Phylloscopus tristis altaiana Peter Petrovic Sushkin,
1925, Sposok i Raspr. Ptits. Russk. Altai [List and
distribution of birds of the Russian Altai and nearest
parts of N.W. Mongolia, with a description of new or
imperfectly known forms], p. 71 [in 1-78] (Biisk,
Kotanda, central part of Altay Mountains).

b) Russian Altai Mountains (c. 85=B0 E, 50=B0 N).

d) Merely listed as a synonym of tristis in Cheng (p.
798), but possibly closer to fulvescens.

7c. Phylloscopus collybita menzbieri Shestoperov 1937

a) Phylloscopus collybitus menzbieri Shestoperov, 1937,
Keys Vertebrata Turkomania, Aves, Vol. 4, p. 244 (Kopet
Dag, southwestern Transcaspia).

b) Northeastern Iran and Turkmenistan (southwest
Transcaspia).

d) Sometimes included in (or synonymous with) tristis, but
recognized by Wolters.

8. Phylloscopus collybita lorenzii (Lorenz) 1887

a) Phyllopneuste Lorenzii Theodor (F=E9dor) Karlovic Lorenz
(ex Severtsov MS), 1887, Beitr. Kennt. Ornith. Fauna
Nordseite Kaukasus, p. 28, pl. 2, figs. 2-4 (northern
Caucasus =3D Kislovodsk, northern Caucasus, fide
Ticehurst, 1938, Syst. Review Genus Phylloscopus, p.
49).

b) High-Caucasus, Trans-Caspia, Armenia, possibly
northeastern Turkey (Dutch Birding 1: 117) where it
might meet with brevirostris in the Pontic Mountains.
Vagrant to Israel (Paz & Eshbol: 218; Shirihai: 529).

c) En: Caucasian Chiffchaff, Fr: Pouillot de Lorenz, Sw:
Berggrans=E5ngare, Tu: Lorenz B=FClb=FCl=FC

d) Photographs and a colour plate of this form are to be
found in Shirihai (1987) International Bird
Identification, pp. 62-63 and another plate in Porter,
Christensen & Schiermacker-Hansen, pl. 90 (p. 181),
where also brevirostris, abietinus, tristis and
sindianus are illustrated in colour by Brian Small.
Treated as a separate species in Knystautas (Birds of
Russia, p. 191), Sibley & Monroe (supplement),
Roselaar, p. 124 and Stepanyan in Birding World 4: 402.

9. Phylloscopus collybita sindianus Brooks 1879

a) Phylloscopus sindianus W.E. Brooks, 1879,
Ornithological observations in Sikkim, the Punjab and
Sind. Stray Feathers, A Journal of Ornithology for
India and its dependencies, vol. 8, p. 476 [in 464-489]
(Sukkur, Sind, Pakistan; eastern region of Kashmir;
hills of Shache, China).

b) Breeds between c. 2500 and 4400 m in willow and poplar
groves, tamarisks, gardens and Hippophae scrub in
Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Pamir Mountains
to the northwestern Himalayas; wintering in northern
India.

c) Du: Bergtjiftjaf; En: Mountain Chiffchaff, Sind
Chiffchaff; Fr: Pouillot montagnard; Ge: Bergzilpzalp;
It: Lu=EC piccolo montano & Lu=EC orientale; Sp: Mosquitero
Montano; Sw: Berggrans=E5ngare.

d) Sometimes (erroneously?) listed as "Brooks 1880".
Treated as a separate species in Voous and Heinzel,
Fitter & Parslow, as a subspecies of collybita in
Vaurie and Glutz, Bauer & Bezzel and recently Sibley &
Monroe supplement, p. 69. For photographs and colour-
plates, see lorenzii-account.

9a. Phylloscopus collybita subsindianus Zarudny 1913

a) Phylloscopus collybita subsindianus Nikolai Alekseevich
Zarudny, 1913, Orn. Vestn., p. 269 (Pamir Plateau).

b) Pamir Mountains, southeastern Tadzjikistan.

c) Usually considered synonymous with sindianus.

For comparison of the various sequences which have been
published for the chiffchaffs, I have prepared the following
table, which may speak for itself:

Voous H&M Petrs Glutz Glutz H&M BWP Beam
1977 1984 1986 1991 1991 1991 1992 1994
map text
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
sind abie cana lore coll abie lore coll
lore coll exsu abie coll sind sind
cana breh cana brev cana lore
coll exsu coll excu breh exsu coll
brev lore brev breh cana breh abie
iber abie coll exsu brev breh
tris tris abie tris tris exsu
sind fulv fulv cana
lore tris sind lore tris
sind brev sind
sind lore

Bibliography

- Baker, Kevin (1997) Helm Identification guides: Warblers of
Europe, Asia and North Africa. London: Christopher Helm, A &
C Black (ISBN 0-7136-3971-7)
- Beaman, Mark (1994) Palearctic Birds: A Checklist of the
Birds of Europe, North Africa and Asia north of the
foothills of the Himalayas. Stonyhurst, England: Harrier
Publications (ISBN 0 9523391 0 2)
- Cheng, Tso-hsin (=3D Zheng, Zuo-xin) (1987) A synopsis of the
Avifauna of China. Beijing & Hamburg/Berlin: Science Press &
Paul Parey Scientific Publishers (ISBN 3-490-12518-5,
Science Press Book No. 5090-72).
- Cramp, Stanley & K.E.L. Simmons (1992) Handbook of the birds
of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: the birds of
the western Palearctic, Volume VI (Warblers). Oxford: Oxford
University Press (ISBN 0 19 857509 2)
- Glutz von Blotzheim, Urs No=EBl, Kurt M. Bauer & Einhard
Bezzel (1991) Handbuch der V=F6gel Mitteleuropas, Band 12
[Passeriformes 3. Teil]-II (Sylviidae 2). Frankfurt am Main:
Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft (ISBN 3-89104-511-5)
- Gruson, Edward S. (1976) A Checklist of the Birds of the
World: A complete list of the species, with names,
authorities and areas of distribution. London: Collins
(ISBN 0 00 219642 5)
- Heinzel, Hermann, Richard Sidney Richmond Fitter & John
Leonard Frederick Parslow (1995) Collins Pocket Guide: Birds
of Britain & Europe, with North Africa & the Middle East
(Fifth Edition). London: HarperCollinsPublishers
(ISBN 0 00 219894 0)
- Howard, Richard & Alick Moore (1984) A complete checklist of
the Birds of the World (revised [first] edition). London:
Papermac, a division of Macmillan (ISBN 0 333 36229 2)
- Howard, Richard & Alick Moore (1991) A complete checklist of
the birds of the World (second edition). London: Academic
Press (ISBN 0-12-356910-9)
- Inskipp, Tim, Nigel Lindsey & William Duckworth (1996) An
Annotated Checklist of the Birds of the Oriental Region.
Sandy, Bedfordshire, U.K.: Oriental Bird Club
(ISBN 0-9529545-0-8)
- Shirihai, Hadoram (1987) in International Birdwatching
Centre Eilat. Field characters of Mountain Chiffchaff
[Phylloscopus sindianus. Proceedings of the 4th
International Identification Meeting Eilat 1986: 60-63
- Mild, Krister (1987) Soviet bird songs (two cassettes &
booklet). Stockholm: the author
- Moreno, Jos=E9 Manuel (1988) Gu=EDa de las Aves de las Islas
Canarias: Incluye Polluelos, Nidos y Huevos. Santa Cruz de
Tenerife: Editorial Interinsular Canaria, S.A.
(ISBN 84-86733-05-7)
- Paz, Uzi & Yossi Eshbol (1987) The birds of Israel. The
Stephen Greene Press, Lexington 1987 (ISBN 0-8289-0621-1)
- Peters, James Lee (edited by Ernst Mayr, Melvin Alvah
Traylor Jr. & George Elder Watson) (1986) Check-list of
Birds of the World, Volume XI (Sylviidae, Muscicapidae,
Platysteiridae, Maluridae, Acanthizidae, Eopsaltridae &
Monarchidae). Cambridge Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative
Zoology: 228-231
- Porter, Richard F., Steen Christensen & Per
Schiermacker-Hansen (ill. Andrew Birch, John Gale, M.
Langman & Brian Small) (1996) Field Guide to the Birds of
the Middle East. London: T. & A.D. Poyser
(ISBN 0-85661-076-3)
- Roselaar, Cornelis Simon (1995) Taxonomy, morphology, and
distribution of the Songbirds of Turkey[ an atlas of
biodiversity of Turkish passerine birds. Haarlem: Ger
Meesters Boekproduktie Uitgeverij (ISBN 90-74345-07-7)
- Shirihai, Hadoram (19960 The Birds of Israel. London:
Academic Press (ISBN 0-12-640255-8)
- Sibley, Charles Gald & Burt Leavelle Monroe Jr. (1990)
Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the World. New Haven &
London: Yale University Press (ISBN 0-300-04969-2)
- Sibley, Charles Gald & Burt Leavelle Monroe Jr. (1993) A
Supplement to Distribution and Taxonomy of Birds of the
World. New Haven & London: Yale University Press
(ISBN 0-300-05549-8)
- Ticehurst, Claud Buchanan (1938) A Systematic Review of the
Genus Phylloscopus. London: Trustees of the British Museum
- Vaurie, Charles, The birds of the palearctic fauna, A
systematic reference, Volume 1: Passeriformes. London: H.F.
& G. Witherby Ltd.
- Voous, Karel Hendrik (1977) List of recent Holarctic birds
species. London: British Ornithologists' Union/Academic
Press Ltd. (Reprinted from Ibis 115 (1973), pp. 612-638 &
Ibis 119 (1977), pp. 223-250 & pp. 376-406): 50
- Walters, Michael (1980) The Complete Birds of the World.
London & North Pomfret (Vermont): Newton Abbot [Devon] &
David & Charles Inc (ISBN 0 7153 7666 7)
- Williamson, Kenneth (1967) Identification for Ringers 2. The
Genus Phylloscopus (revised ed.). BTO Identification Guide
No. 8. Tring: BTO
- Wolters, Hans Edmund (1980) Die Vogelarten der Erde (Eine
systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen
und englischen Namen), 5. Lieferung. Hamburg & Berlin: Paul
Parey (ISBN 3-490-09118-3)