Mountain Chiffchaff or Common? Iran, Sistan & Baluchestan, Mar. 2022 (1 Viewer)

[Pedrambirder]

Hi all,

 

[andyb39]

@Pedrambirder This is a large province - can you say where exactly it was?

 

[Pedrambirder]

@Pedrambirder This is a large province - can you say where exactly it was?

Yes, sure!
In Bampur, it's located on the west side of Iranshahr.

 

[KenM]

Can you lighten the images Pedram, it might result in a contrasty white throat suffused with a “pinky” under-wash, plus a white fore-super and a brown cape, nape and mantle, because at the moment it’s very much in shadow and it’s not helping?

Cheers

 

[Pedrambirder]

Can you lighten the images Pedram, it might result in a contrasty white throat suffused with a “pinky” under-wash, plus a white fore-super and a brown cape, nape and mantle, because at the moment it’s very much in shadow and it’s not helping?

Cheers

Sure, check the modified ones, pls.

 

[KenM]

Thanks Pedram👍 by my reckoning, looking at Mountain Chiffchaff in Collins, this compares extremely well!, and I would like to hear any arguments against it being so.

PS did it look “pinky washed on the underparts in the field Pedram?

Cheers

 

[Pedrambirder]

Thanks Pedram👍 by my reckoning, looking at Mountain Chiffchaff in Collins, this compares extremely well!, and I would like to hear any arguments against it being so.

PS did it look “pinky washed on the underparts in the field Pedram?

Cheers

Thanks for your comment,
Actually, I didn't notice the colour in the field, I just tried to take some focused shots of this fast moving Warbler!

 

[Muppit17]

The bicoloured supercilium that is bright before the eye, and meets over the bill, is what I remember most from the Mountain Chiffchaffs I saw in Georgia.

This bird has the same features.

However, I am not sure if P.c. brevirostris is that simple to eliminate.

 

[andyb39]

The bicoloured supercilium that is bright before the eye, and meets over the bill, is what I remember most from the Mountain Chiffchaffs I saw in Georgia.

This bird has the same features.

However, I am not sure if P.c. brevirostris is that simple to eliminate.

Or the menzbieri race, which could conceivably winter here. I know virtually nothing about it.

 

[Muppit17]

Or the menzbieri race, which could conceivably winter here. I know virtually nothing about it.

I did a bit of research on menzbieri after I saw a strange phylloscopus in Uzbekistan this year. Most of the illustrations in UK books don't match the birds seen in Iran/Turkmenistan. This are greyer with cleaner underparts, more akin to tristis.

On that basis, I don't think it can be menzbieri

 

[Grahame Walbridge]

Or the menzbieri race, which could conceivably winter here. I know virtually nothing about it.

I did a bit of research on menzbieri after I saw a strange phylloscopus in Uzbekistan this year. Most of the illustrations in UK books don't match the birds seen in Iran/Turkmenistan. This are greyer with cleaner underparts, more akin to tristis.

On that basis, I don't think it can be menzbieri

Does not look like menzbieri either in terms of plumage or, structurally Chiffchaffs in Iran and Armenia

Looks good for Mountain Chiffchaff, presumably, sindianus at this location.

Grahame

 

[Pedrambirder]

Does not look like menzbieri either in terms of plumage or, structurally Chiffchaffs in Iran and Armenia

Looks good for Mountain Chiffchaff, presumably, sindianus at this location.

Grahame

Thank you.

 

[andyb39]

Thanks for this, Grahame. An interesting long read.

Yes, the modified images look good for Mountain Chiffchaff. It's interesting to note just how far this location is from the breeding ranges of both lorenzii and sindianus, although on eBird, there's a record from Minab, near Bandar Abbas. Most images from Iran are from the Tehran area and presumably involve lorenzii from the Caucasus.

The reason I asked for a more precise location is that if the bird had been seen near the coast, it would not have been that far, as the crow flies, from the Batinah coast of Oman - it's still unclear whether all birds in the Gulf are abietinus or whether other races are represented. After seeing the actual location and noting that menzbieri is found in N Iran and Tajikistan, my little theory was that it might be a bird from one of those populations moving south for the winter. However, the photos in the article clearly show a very different form.

@Muppit17 Do you have any images of the bird you saw in Uzbekistan?

 

[Muppit17]

Thanks for this, Grahame. An interesting long read.

Yes, the modified images look good for Mountain Chiffchaff. It's interesting to note just how far this location is from the breeding ranges of both lorenzii and sindianus, although on eBird, there's a record from Minab, near Bandar Abbas. Most images from Iran are from the Tehran area and presumably involve lorenzii from the Caucasus.

The reason I asked for a more precise location is that if the bird had been seen near the coast, it would not have been that far, as the crow flies, from the Batinah coast of Oman - it's still unclear whether all birds in the Gulf are abietinus or whether other races are represented. After seeing the actual location and noting that menzbieri is found in N Iran and Tajikistan, my little theory was that it might be a bird from one of those populations moving south for the winter. However, the photos in the article clearly show a very different form.

@Muppit17 Do you have any images of the bird you saw in Uzbekistan?

Hi Andy

Images were posted on this ID query thread.

Chiffchaff sp - Kyzylkum desert, Uzbekistan 30 May 22

I have t admit to being confused by this warbler seen in the Kyzylkum desert (Grid ref; 40.458, 63.005) relatively close to the Turkmenistan border (c170m asl). It kept to the tamarisks, as was a bit of a 'jigsaw bird', never really showing clearly. It had a distinctly brownish cast, with no...

www.birdforum.net

 

[andyb39]

Hi Andy

Images were posted on this ID query thread.

Chiffchaff sp - Kyzylkum desert, Uzbekistan 30 May 22

I have t admit to being confused by this warbler seen in the Kyzylkum desert (Grid ref; 40.458, 63.005) relatively close to the Turkmenistan border (c170m asl). It kept to the tamarisks, as was a bit of a 'jigsaw bird', never really showing clearly. It had a distinctly brownish cast, with no...

www.birdforum.net

Apologies, it must have slipped past me.

 

[Muppit17]

Apologies, it must have slipped past me.

No worries