I just joined the forum and I am glad about it .I discovered this forum while searching the id of a warbler which was seen in Kerala, India on January first 2023. To me it looks like a Upchers Warbler. This warbler was larger and darker than the Sykes Warbler usually seen here.The pictures can be seen on ebird.org/checklist/S125290748. I am attaching a few pictures here too. Please help me in the identification of this warbler.
Thanks you
Hello Jayan and welcome to Birdforum.
Your bird is an
Iduna not a
Hippolais warbler. Upcher's warbler can be readily eliminated by a combination of plumage tones, head and bill pattern and, structural detail. You have clearly misjudged its size-were any other birds present to enable a direct comparison?
Upcher's is grey-toned, thin whitish fringes may be still present, notably to tertials and secondaries and the tail is typically darker distally, the supercilium is short and thin terminating abruptly at the rear of the eye and lower mandible is always unmarked. Structurally, the bill is altogether heavier, the pp longer and the tail longer and fuller. Further, they often spread and wave their tails in a very distinctive way which can be captured in a sequence of images. Needless to say, no evidence in your captures.
As I remarked at the outset, your bird is an
Iduna so, clearly a Sykes's or Booted. These images are not easy to assess, the bird largely obscured by bits of vegetation which, not only obstructs a clear view of the whole bird, it further creates shadow. There is no clear profile of the bill. This pair
can be extremely difficult. On balance, I'd leave it as a Sykes's/Booted.
Grahame
