ID help needed for Locustella Warbler sp. - Nagaland, India (1 Viewer)

[sbiswas.geo]

Dear Members,

Need your help to conclude this bird, if possible. The observer logged this bird as Spotted Bush Warbler in eBird, but upon hearing its song, some are of the opinion that this is actually a Baikal Bush warbler. I could not find an exact similar song in Xeno or ML. It has a unique beginning, though the rest of the song sounds somewhat like Baikal.

Thanks in advance.

eBird link

 

[andyb39]

It's surely not Spotted, which has a very different song, and apart from that atypical beginning, sounds spot on for Baikal.

I found this page during my search, which contrasts the two species nicely: https://www.shanghaibirding.com/bush-warblers/.

 

[sbiswas.geo]

It's surely not Spotted, which has a very different song, and apart from that atypical beginning, sounds spot on for Baikal.

I found this page during my search, which contrasts the two species nicely: https://www.shanghaibirding.com/bush-warblers/.

Thanks Andrew. Yes the atypical beginning is what threw us off. The observer is a naturalist from North-East India and he insists that this is a Spotted Bush song that he is familiar with.

I am familiar with that link you shared, but to be honest, some of the birds we have sighted this season are very confusing if we go by those descriptions. I already have two examples from West Bengal where the birds were identified respectively as Baikal and Spotted by playback, but plumage-wise they look very opposite. I will post them in this forum separately for discussion.