Phylloscopus trochiloides

Uma Maheshwaram Temple Complex, Telangana

This week is about a species which could be considered a 'birders' bird'. An alternative and rarely used name is 'Dull Green Warbler' – hardly the most exciting moniker. Green and Two-barred Warblers, the two far rarer species formerly treated as conspecific with the Greenish, are much more desired by rarity hunters. But for being both a realistic find for most birders (pretty much) and a treasure of a Phylloscopus, the Greenish Warbler deserves acclaim.

Telangana is a state in southern India with Hyderabad as its capital. Hyderabad is home to the Charminar, a 16th-century mosque with 4 arches supporting 4 towering minarets. The monument overlooks the city's long-running Laad Bazaar. Laad Bazaar or Choodi Bazaar is a very old market popular for bangles located on one of the four main roads that branch out from the historic Charminar. Laad meaning lacquer is used to make bangles, on which artificial diamonds are studded. In this 1-kilometre (0.62 mi)-long shopping strip, most of the shops sell bangles, sarees, wedding related items, and imitation jewellery. Once the seat of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, the sprawling Golconda Fort is a former diamond-trading center.

Being located in the Deccan Plateau in the central stretch, Telangana has sub-tropical climate and the terrain consists mostly of hills, mountain ranges, and thick dense forests covering an area of 27,292 km². The annual rainfall ranges between 1,100 mm to 1,200 mm and the annual temperature varies from 15 C to 45 C. The State is drained by a number of rivers which include Godavari and Krishna.

Telangana is endowed with rich diversity of flora and fauna. It has dense teak forests on the northern part along the banks of river Godavari. As per the Champion & Seth Classification of Forest Types (1968), the forests in Telangana belong to three Forest Type Groups, which are further divided into 12 Forest Types. The State Government has taken up a massive greening programme, 'Telangana Ku Harita Haram' in the State to plant and protect 230 crore seedlings over a period of 4 years. This initiative aims at achieving the twin objectives of increasing the forest cover and reduce pressure on the existing forest resources, through massive community participation by Vana Samrakshna Samithis (VSS) and Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) in Protected Areas and Watershed Development Committees in the Watershed areas. Recorded Forest Area (RFA) in the State is 26,904 km² of which 20,353 km² is Reserved Forest, 5,939 km² is Protected Forest and 612 km² is Unclassed Forests. In Telangana, during the period 1st January 2015 to 5th February 2019, a total of 9,420 hectares of forest land was diverted for non-forestry purposes under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 (MoEF & CC, 2019). As per the information received from the State during that last two years, 12,730 ha of plantations including avenue plantations in the State.

Three National Parks and nine Wildlife Sanctuaries constitute the Protected Area network of the State covering 5.08% of its geographical area.

There are two types of warblers, New World and Old World subspecies. They can also be distinguished as southern and northern species. The Greenish Warbler (Phylloscopus trochiloides), like all leaf warblers was formerly placed in the “Old World Warbler” assemblage but it now belongs to the New World birds in the genus Phylloscopus and order Passeriformes.

The greenish warbler is a widespread carnivorous bird that primarily consumes insects and it has a breeding range in north eastern Europe, and temperate to subtropical continental Asia. This warbler is strongly migratory and winters in India. It is not uncommon as a spring or early autumn vagrant in Western Europe and is annually seen in Great Britain. In Central Europe large numbers of vagrant birds are encountered in some years; some of these may stay to breed, as a handful of pairs does each year in Germany.

They are seen in deciduous to mixed forests and range in countries in northeastern Europe, India, and Siberia. They derive their name from their appearance and their origin. Warblers are song birds and are closely related to thrush birds. Their voice is melodious and soothing to hear. Green warblers are considered to be the smallest birds of North America and north-east Europe. Male and females are similar in appearance and are monogamous in nature.

In the forests of the Deccan Plateau, if you look close, a small, delicate warbler is revealed, grey-green above and silky-white below, with a thin and pale wing-bar (that is broader on fresh autumn first-winters). A strong supercilium runs broadly behind the eye and often extends onto the forehead, while a dark eyestripe doesn't quite reach the bill (the lower half of which is pale).

This Greenish Warbler was photographed in and around the temple complex of Uma Maheshwaram. This is a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva located in the Nallamala Forest around 100 km from Hyderabad on the Hyderabad-Srisailam highway, about 4 kms from the village of Rangapur, Achampet.

Uma Maheshwaram is the northern gateway of Srisailam — one of the jyotirlingas, on a hill surrounded by high trees. Nearby hills shield the Uma Maheshwaram temple and the 500-metre stretch to PapaNasanam from sunlight for most of the day, maintaining a temperature lower than the surroundings through out the year. The area abounds in flora and fauna like this beautiful and vulnerable Yellow-throated Bulbul.

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For a print of the beautiful birds from my various sojourns click on the button below to read my process and order a limited edition canvas.

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Greenish Warbler

The greenish warbler is a typical leaf warbler in appearance, grayish-green above and off-white below. The single wing bar found in the southern and western populations distinguishes them from most similar species (except the Arctic warbler P. borealis). It is slightly smaller than that species and has a thinner bill, without a dark tip to the lower mandible. A latitude-based analysis of wintering birds indicated that more northerly P. trochiloides are smaller, i.e. this species does not seem to follow Bergmann's rule.

Its song is a high jerky trill, in some populations containing a sequence of down and more rarely up slurred notes.

There are three subspecies of Greenish Warbler Phylloscopus trochiloides, with the form viridianus the most familiar in Europe. It is in fact the subspecies obscuratus, found in north-west China, that earned the 'Dull Green' name. P t trochiloides breeds along the southern rim of the Himalaya eastwards from Nepal into west China. Hybrids between trochiloides and viridianus were once considered another subspecies, ludlowi.

It seems to be a ring species, with populations diverging east- and westwards of the Tibetan Plateau, later meeting on the northern side. Their relationships are therefore fairly confusing:

• Eastern group: greenish warblers

  • Phylloscopus trochiloides trochiloides: greenish warbler

    • Southern rim of the Himalaya eastwards from Nepal into W China.

    • Dusky greyish green above, often traces of second wing bar.

  • Phylloscopus trochiloides obscuratus: dull-green warbler

    • Intermediate between trochiloides and two-barred warbler.

    • Gansu and surroundings, China.

• Western group: green warblers

  • Phylloscopus trochiloides viridanus: western greenish warbler

    • Breeds Western Siberia to north-east Europe; at east of range south to NW India.

    • Dull green above, with yellowish supercilium, throat, breast and faint wing bar.

It breeds in lowland deciduous or mixed forest; non-breeding birds in the warmer parts of its range may move to montane habitat in summer. Individuals from south east of the Himalayas are for example quite often seen in Bhutan during the hot months, typically in humid Bhutan Fir (Abies densa) forest up to about 3,800 meters ASL or more, but they do not breed there and return again to the adjacent subtropical lowlands in winter.

Field Identification

It is green on the back and pale below and has a strong white eyebrow which is broad behind the eye and goes all the way to the forehead. There is usually one broad pale wingbar. The bird can be very unobtrusive and difficult to spot breeding in lowland and montane deciduous and mixed forest. The song is a high-pitched long series "tsit-psityee psityu-psi-ti-ti-ti-ti-si," but often detected by its call, a two-parted "t-sli" with flat or downward inflection. Similar to Green Warbler which co-occurs on wintering ground, the two are best separated by their call and the Green's brighter green back and yellower underside.

*Note on wing bars: Here, the bar formed by the median coverts is referred to as the first (or upper) wing bar and the bar formed by the greater coverts is referred to as the second (or lower) wing bar.

Source for both this and the image below is Bird Count India

A Greenish Warbler in fresh plumage is duller green above, dull whitish below with some mottling and shows one wing bar. In worn plumage, most Green Warblers show the second wing bar, but it may appear broken, weak or missing in the most extreme cases. The upperparts are not as bright as fresh plumage and become “greyer” while the yellow is reduced in brightness and extent, though the supercilium and face retain a yellow wash unlike on Greenish Warbler. This plumage may resemble a viridanus subspecies of Greenish Warbler in fresh plumage with the exception of the yellow on the face. On a Greenish Warbler, the wing bars may wear off altogether – thus giving it a very plain and dull appearance. The viridanus subspecies is especially uniform and plain overall while the nominate shows mottled, slightly darker underparts and contrasting flight feathers when wing is closed.

Breeding from north-east Europe to East Asia, the Greenish Warbler is strongly migratory and moves south-east to wintering quarters in southern (especially India) and South-East Asia. In the Western Palearctic it breeds as far west as Poland (though a handful nest in eastern Germany most years) and east to the Ural Mountains, with the regional breeding distribution also covering the Baltic States, southern Finland, Belarus, north-west Russia and northern Ukraine. It has bred in Sweden before, too. 

The Greenish Warbler is relatively unfussy when it comes to its breeding habitat, favouring inland lowland mixed or deciduous woodland across most of its range, but being open to nesting at coastal sites or even in conifer forests. It's rather fond of wooded parkland or mature gardens – indeed such areas can be the best places to see the species. Non-breeding birds may even loiter in montane landscapes, with birds recorded as high up as 3,800 m in Bhutan.

Should you have the great fortune of finding a Greenish Warbler, expect to work for it. Like most small Phylloscopus warblers, they are hyperactive, moving quickly as they flit and fall through the vegetation. This species will frequently flick its wings and, occasionally, its tail, in a downward motion. Any coastal migrant passerine hot-spot could yield a bird, which may attach itself to a local roving tit and warbler flock, or perhaps settle for a short period in an area with a particular concentration of small insect prey.

A live wire individual like this may be best identified by its call, which is distinct and easily separates it from any other confusion species – a clearly disyllabic note often described as sounding similar to a Pied Wagtail. The call is also very similar to the Two-barred Warbler, which can pose significant identification problems. Obtaining a recording of any vocalisations is helpful. Arctic Warbler is the traditional confusion species – this old BirdGuides ID guide contains lots of useful tips for separating the two species. 

The exact population of greenish warblers is not known. They are migratory birds and tend to travel long distances in short periods of time. Their population size is estimated to have increased in recent years. They can also be distinguished by southern and northern species as well as the New World and the Old World. The green warbler is classified as a Least Concern bird by the International Union For Conservation Of Nature (IUCN).

With that said I think it is time to move onto the gallery of this tiny and beautiful warbler.

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