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Lesser Whitethroat (1 Viewer)

according to birds of the middle east, "Desert Whitethroat, Sylvia minula" is a regular winter visitor to southern Arabia, and Andrew Whitehouse in his recent trip report saw good numbers in Oman.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=274930

however according to Olsson et al there's no evidence the breeding range of this taxon extends further west than xinjiang.

so does anyone know which of the 6 clades the arabian visitors belong to??
i guess it's possible they are minula from western china but it strikes me as a strange direction to migrate in, but what do i know?!

cheers,
James

I've been wondering exactly the same thing, having spent 2 weeks there this January. I assumed that most of the wintering birds we had were halimodendri, as that seems to have a large breeding range well to the west of minula, the plumage seemed to more or less fit, and in particular they had a really striking call, completely unlike curruca. Initally, i had no idea what was giving these calls, and was really surprised to find that they were Lesser Whitethroats. The call matches halimodendri on Xeno-Canto, although i don't know what minula sound like. They were very vocal, i would guess to do with feeding interactions/territories. I did have one bird in the Al Hajar Mts which i felt was particularly small, sandy and spiky-billed.
I asked my friends about minula, but none of us knew anything about the taxon other than some of the recent blog posts on a couple of websites.
A quick look at wikipedia - with the usual caveats of course - suggests that minula (excluding halimodendri) winters Arabian Peninsula, southern Pakistan and NW India, this seems to be taken from HBW, which i don't have.
 
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Arabia

so does anyone know which of the 6 clades the arabian visitors belong to??
Eriksen et al 2003 (Oman Bird List 6) listed Desert Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca minula as a common passage migrant and winter visitor (presumably following Shirihai et al 2001). Also Sargeant et al 2008 (Birdwatching Guide to Oman, 2nd Ed): "Desert Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca minula – A common and widespread passage migrant and winter visitor from early-September to late-May. By far the most numerous form of the curruca complex. Winters in large numbers across much of Oman, and readily found in most habitats with bushes." [On a 2002 visit to Oman, I assumed that numerous sightings of small, pale Lesser Whitethroats could be attributed to minula.] Eriksen & Victor 2013 (OBL 7) lists Desert Whitethroat Sylvia minula as a common PM/WV, but now comments "While the whitethroat taxonomy is unsettled, we are including ssp halimodendri in this species" – perhaps tacitly acknowledging that the birds might be minula and/or halimodendri?

jogresh, here are the ranges from HBW...

Aymí & Gargallo 2006 (HBW 11):
 
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Tynemouth bird is S. c. blythi: Birdguides article.

Still present today, for anyone wanting to see it. Seems it missed its target slightly, as it is only 10 km south of Blyth :cool:
 

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"While the whitethroat taxonomy is unsettled, we are including ssp halimodendri in this species" – perhaps tacitly acknowledging that the birds might be minula and/or halimodendri?

cheers Richard,
think this is the key sentence.. if the new paper is correct that there are no breeding lsr whitethroats (s.l.) in e.g .uzbekistan and turkmenistan then you'd have to say halimodendri looks like a more likely migrant to arabia (although you wouldn't rule out minula s.s).

and if the new paper is correct with the identification of the clades then you can't include halimodendri and minula in the same species unless you lump all 6 clades together...

a tricky situation for sure!
James

p.s. have attached a map of asia with approximate breeding distributions of the clades in asia as inferred from the new paper (olsson et al) that i created to help me understand the situation - maybe it will help other people as well! colour code as follows:-
curruca = burgundy
blythi = blue
althaea = purple
halimodendri = orange
minula = red
margelanica = green
 

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...and if the new paper is correct with the identification of the clades then you can't include halimodendri and minula in the same species unless you lump all 6 clades together...
Yes, treating halimodendri as a subspecies of S minula makes no sense in the context of Olsson et al 2013!
 
have attached a map of asia with approximate breeding distributions of the clades in asia as inferred from the new paper (olsson et al) that i created to help me understand the situation - maybe it will help other people as well! colour code as follows:-
curruca = burgundy
blythi = blue
althaea = purple
halimodendri = orange
minula = red
margelanica = green

James, your clear mapping illustrates why a useful name for blythi could be 'Taiga Whitethroat' or 'Taiga Lesser Whitethroat'. If subsequent molecular research supports Olsson et al in their cautious conclusions, then the 'settled' distance of blythi from althaea will be a major factor in the eventual taxonomic status of blythi.
MJB
 
p.s. have attached a map of asia with approximate breeding distributions of the clades in asia as inferred from the new paper (olsson et al) that i created to help me understand the situation -
Not quite right, though! minula and althaea overlap extensively in SW Asia, but are largely separated altitudinally, with minula at low altitudes in desert scrub, and althaea at higher altitudes (2000-3600m) in mountain scrub.
 
Not quite right, though! minula and althaea overlap extensively in SW Asia, but are largely separated altitudinally, with minula at low altitudes in desert scrub, and althaea at higher altitudes (2000-3600m) in mountain scrub.
Well, that was previously the conventional wisdom (eg, Shirihai et al 2001). But, as James noted earlier, Olsson et al 2013 found no evidence of minula breeding outside China.
 
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p.s. have attached a map of asia with approximate breeding distributions of the clades in asia as inferred from the new paper (olsson et al) that i created to help me understand the situation
I understood the paper a bit differently, as attached. The coloured squares are sampling sites.
I added some data from Loskot, e.g. telengetica (W Mongolia) belonging with margelanica (DNA appears to point that way).
Funny is the ‘halimodendri’ sample in the margelanica area, which groups with samples taken from vagrant Asian Lesser Whitethroats in Europe. There appears to be intergradation/introgression between minula and margelanica as well (indicated by the overlapping area).
It would be interesting to know if there are any halimodendri-like birds breeding in the southern areas (where Olsson did not find breeding birds).
 

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i guess it's possible they are minula from western china but it strikes me as a strange direction to migrate in, but what do i know?!

cheers,
James

This is approximately the same migration direction that Amur Falcon takes before doing a left turn down Africa. I think that a few more examples could be found if looking around.

Niels
 
This is approximately the same migration direction that Amur Falcon takes before doing a left turn down Africa. I think that a few more examples could be found if looking around. Niels

The Alaskan breeding population of Northern Wheatear, for example...
MJB
 
Another good example of an eastern migrant breeder wintering in Arabia is Daurian (Isabelline) Shrike Lanius (isabellinus) isabellinus.
 
Well, that was previously the conventional wisdom (eg, Shirihai et al 2001). But, as James noted earlier, Olsson et al 2013 found no evidence of minula breeding outside China.
Several options here:
(a) Olsson's team were unlucky and failed to find minula despite some actually breeding in the area
(b) Habitat degradation (cotton plantations? Aral Sea desertification?) has caused the recent extinction of minula as a breeder in the area
(c) Former claims of minula breeding in the area were actually just passage migrants
(d) Former claims of minula breeding in the area were misidentifications
Any guess which might apply?
This is approximately the same migration direction that Amur Falcon takes before doing a left turn down Africa. I think that a few more examples could be found if looking around.

Niels
Don't think so; they go down the east side of the Sinohimalayan massif, down India, and across the Indian Ocean to SE Africa. A better example might be Steppe Eagles? Or some of the Isabelline Shrike populations?
 
fair play, not that unlikely then!
:)
they certainly don't winter in SE asia so if there's any sideways element to the migration route it must be westerly

James
 
Several options here:
(a) Olsson's team were unlucky and failed to find minula despite some actually breeding in the area
(b) Habitat degradation (cotton plantations? Aral Sea desertification?) has caused the recent extinction of minula as a breeder in the area
(c) Former claims of minula breeding in the area were actually just passage migrants
(d) Former claims of minula breeding in the area were misidentifications
Any guess which might apply?
None of the above really: The "real" minula was always restricted to Xinjiang.
However, halimodendri was treated as belonging to minula, which has been found to be incorrect based on genetic data. The forms halimodendri and althaea do occur in close proximity.
 
Don't think so; they go down the east side of the Sinohimalayan massif, down India, and across the Indian Ocean to SE Africa. A better example might be Steppe Eagles? Or some of the Isabelline Shrike populations?

According to HBW alive, some of them do that. However, there is also fall migration recorded north of SE Africa, for example in Ethiopia. Moving around the Indian ocean instead of across seems more common in spring.

Niels
 
According to HBW alive, some of them do that. However, there is also fall migration recorded north of SE Africa, for example in Ethiopia. Moving around the Indian ocean instead of across seems more common in spring.

Niels
"Some"?? Virtually all ("up to a million") migrate east of the Himalaya and across India (following migrating dragonfly swarms). Maybe a few do go west of the Tibetan highlands and then south along the same route as minula whitethroats, but it won't be many compared to the main route.
 
However, halimodendri was treated as belonging to minula, which has been found to be incorrect based on genetic data.
Well, both Shirihai et al 2001 and Aymí & Gargallo 2006 (HBW 11) treated halimodendri as a ssp of S [c] curruca (not of S [c] minula).

[But they included jaxartica (S Kazakhstan) and snigirewskii (E Turkmenistan) in minula.]
 
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