Warblers in Henan, China July (1 Viewer)

[beijingbabbler]

Hi all, I saw these warblers at around 2500 m elevation on a mountain top on western Henan. I'm not sure what they are, any help with ID appreciated! Pictures 2-5 seem like the immature of the bird in picture 1,m and picture 7 looks like a buff barred warbler? The bird in photo 6 looks quite yellow but doesn't seem quite right for sulphur breasted warbler.

 

[andyb39]

You've posted the photos of the juvenile before. As Grahame rightly pointed out at the time, it's either Hume's or Chinese Leaf Warbler. If I had to put money on it, I'd say Hume's, because of the small predominantly dark bill, lack of dark centres to the greater coverts, apparent lack of a crown stripe and white edges to more than one tertial (as far as I can see, Chinese Leaf only has a white edge to the innermost tertial). This pair is probably easier to separate in the field - if you observed Chinese Leaf from different angles, sooner or later you would see the crown stripe and small white rump.

The bird in no.6 isn't Sulphur-breasted - it has a broad wing bar typical of the Yellow-browed/Hume's or Pallas's groups, and white edges to the tertials, best seen from the rear. Looking at what occurs here at this time of year, I'd say the yellow tones are misleading and it's either Hume's or Chinese Leaf again.

No.7 isn't Buff-barred, which isn't found in Henan. The bill looks long and thin for Hume's but the image is strongly backlit, which can make a bird's bill look longer and thinner than it really is. The broad lower wing bar and weak upper wing bar are typical of Hume's and Chinese Leaf.

 

[beijingbabbler]

You've posted the photos of the juvenile before. As Grahame rightly pointed out at the time, it's either Hume's or Chinese Leaf Warbler. If I had to put money on it, I'd say Hume's, because of the small predominantly dark bill, lack of dark centres to the greater coverts, apparent lack of a crown stripe and white edges to more than one tertial (as far as I can see, Chinese Leaf only has a white edge to the innermost tertial). This pair is probably easier to separate in the field - if you observed Chinese Leaf from different angles, sooner or later you would see the crown stripe and small white rump.

The bird in no.6 isn't Sulphur-breasted - it has a broad wing bar typical of the Yellow-browed/Hume's or Pallas's groups, and white edges to the tertials, best seen from the rear. Looking at what occurs here at this time of year, I'd say the yellow tones are misleading and it's either Hume's or Chinese Leaf again.

No.7 isn't Buff-barred, which isn't found in Henan. The bill looks long and thin for Hume's but the image is strongly backlit, which can make a bird's bill look longer and thinner than it really is. The broad lower wing bar and weak upper wing bar are typical of Hume's and Chinese Leaf.

Sorry - I forgot I posted these before! I recently found photos of some adult looking birds with the juveniles so I thought they might help. They definitely look like both of those species, thanks for providing the ID information - I have a lot to learn about warbler identification. I must admit that although I'm not great at differentiating warbler songs, I don't recall hearing Hume's singing at all, and their songs are really distinctive. Both species have been reported at this location though. I realized that sulphur bellied was probably wrong soon after, but the yellow colors are definitely a bit strange. Thanks for helping me narrow down the options!