[Charles Harper]

I hope this will be a short, uncomplicated thread. Can someone please tell me the current disposition-- taxonomy and distribution-- roughly, of these birds? I can't figure out exactly how many of them I have here in Japan and where they are if they are.

Your grateful servant,

[Michael Frankis]

Dated, but still excellent info in Williamson 1976, Identification for ringers 1 - the genera Cettia, Locustella, Acrocephalus and Hippolais (BTO publications)

In this, every race of each species is detailed with i.d. notes and measurements, and range; he treats these as two races of one species:

Locustella ochotensis ochotensis (Middendorff's)
East Siberia around Sea of Okhotsk, from Kamchatka and Kuriles south to Sakhalin and Hokkaido

Locustella ochotensis pleskei (Pleske's, including styani as a synonym)
Korea, islands of Yellow Sea, Honshu, Kyushu, Izu Islands

With the modern trend for splitting, I wouldn't be surprised if Pleske's has been split from Middendorff's, but I'd be doubtful that there is any status for Styan's.

Michael

[Charles Harper]

Thank you, Michael, for your authoritative response; I'm beginning to love the appearance of that pine cone in a thread. The reason I started this is that I suspect Styan's has indeed been split off-- a Scandinavian birder posted our Yahoo group, looking for a location for Styan's, and 1976 is a long time ago, in taxonomic terms. I try to record by subspecies/race/morph in anticipation of splits, but I haven't been birding here enough to tick any of these guys!

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Charles,

Found a load more on Surfbirds:
http://www.surfbirds.com/ID%20Articles/Midd1.html
http://www.surfbirds.com/ID%20Articles/Midd2.html
http://www.surfbirds.com/ID%20Articles/Midd3.html

From this it is clear that "Styan's [Grasshopper] Warbler" is just an alternative vernacular name for Pleske's Warbler, so those two names do remain synymous.

But it also comes up with a new (well, 'rediscovered') race Locustella ochotensis subcerthiola which Williamson (very surprisingly!) doesn't mention.

Lots of detailed descriptions in the article, but as it is probably not peer-reviewed, the whole should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Michael

PS thanks for the cone compliment!

[Michael Frankis]

And a useful list of names in several languages:

http://cjvlang.com/Birds/warbler/warbler2.html

Michael

[Charles Harper]

Took a good read through the Surfbirds I.D. article-- very interesting, and now I know that if I go to Hokkaido, I should be able to get L. ochotensis and in the Izu Islands (a part of Tokyo, but way out in the Pacific, and one of them is closed due to volcanic activity) I should get Styan's (L. pleskei). I won't be going to the Talan Islands any time soon for subcerthiola!

As you say, not reviewed, but it appears to be somewhat preparatory to that coming book he mentioned, Reed and Bush Warblers of the World, by Kennerly and Pearson (A&C Black). I'm looking forward to that, too. Oh, my aching wallet...