Old World Warblers (Sylviidae)

Blyth's Leaf-warbler (Phylloscopus reguloides) - HBW 11, p. 668

French: Pouillot de Blyth German: Streifenkopf-Laubsänger Spanish: Mosquitero de Blyth
Other common names: Blyth’s Crowned Leaf-warbler/Willow-warbler, Greater White-tailed Leaf-warbler, Small Crowned Leaf-warbler

Taxonomy: Phyllopneuste reguloides Blyth, 1842, Darjeeling, India.
Close relationship to P. occipitalis suggested by results of DNA studies. Race goodsoni formerly treated as a race of P. ricketti, but recently reassessed as having much closer affinities with present species. Current taxonomy in need of review. Evidence from mitochondrial DNA indicates that race claudiae represents a separate species, and that goodsoni and fokiensis should together be treated as a further distinct species; also that kashmiriensis is genetically identical to (and in plumage and voice doubtfully distinct from) Himalayan populations of nominate; and that position of assamensis is also uncertain as, in genetic analysis, some samples of this taxon clustered with nominate and others with ticehursti; populations from China, Thailand and Vietnam currently placed in assamensis are probably more accurately assigned to ticehursti. Further research required. Seven subspecies currently recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

kashmiriensis Ticehurst, 1933 - breeds NW Himalayas from N Pakistan (Murree Hills) and Kashmir E to N India (Simla E to Garhwal); non-breeding in foothills.
reguloides (Blyth, 1842) - breeds C Himalayas in N India (Kumaon) and Nepal E to Bhutan; non-breeding in foothills in Nepal E to N Bangladesh, NE India and possibly Myanmar.
assamensis E. J. O. Hartert, 1921 - breeds E Himalayas of NE India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur) and S China (SE Xizang and NW Yunnan E to SW Sichuan and E Guizhou), and in N, W & E Myanmar, NW Thailand (Doi Inthanon) and N Vietnam; non-breeding at lower levels E from Sikkim and S to Bangladesh, S Myanmar and NW, NE & SE Thailand.

See all 7 subspecies

kashmiriensis Ticehurst, 1933 - breeds NW Himalayas from N Pakistan (Murree Hills) and Kashmir E to N India (Simla E to Garhwal); non-breeding in foothills.
reguloides (Blyth, 1842) - breeds C Himalayas in N India (Kumaon) and Nepal E to Bhutan; non-breeding in foothills in Nepal E to N Bangladesh, NE India and possibly Myanmar.
assamensis E. J. O. Hartert, 1921 - breeds E Himalayas of NE India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur) and S China (SE Xizang and NW Yunnan E to SW Sichuan and E Guizhou), and in N, W & E Myanmar, NW Thailand (Doi Inthanon) and N Vietnam; non-breeding at lower levels E from Sikkim and S to Bangladesh, S Myanmar and NW, NE & SE Thailand.
ticehursti Delacour & Greenway, 1939 - SC Vietnam (Langbian Plateau, in S Annam).
claudiae (La Touche, 1922) - breeds C & NE China (E Xizang E to S Gansu, SE Shanxi, S Shaanxi and Sichuan; also Hebei); non-breeding probably NE India (West Bengal, Assam, Manipur), N Myanmar, S China (S Yunnan) and N Vietnam (W Tonkin).
fokiensis E. J. O. Hartert, 1917 - breeds SE China (W Hubei, Guizhou and Guangxi E to Anhui and Fujian); non-breeding S China (Yunnan) and perhaps also Vietnam.
goodsoni E. J. O. Hartert, 1910 - breeds SE China (Guangxi, Guangdong); non-breeding recorded in Hainan and Hong Kong.