Old World Warblers (Sylviidae)
Hume's Whitethroat (Sylvia althaea) - HBW 11, p. 696
French: Fauvette de Hume
German: Eibischgrasmücke
Spanish: Curruca de Hume
Other common names: Mountain Lesser Whitethroat
Taxonomy: Sylvia althaea Hume, 1878, Kashmir.
Systematics of this species and S. curruca and S. minula controversial. All three traditionally considered conspecific, but recent exhaustive phenotypic and genetic studies suggest that they should be treated as separate species, differing not only genetically but also vocally and in size (but less markedly in plumage); in parts of Asia where they breed very close to each other, they are segregated ecologically and altitudinally. The three appear to form a highly distinct clade (S. hortensis and S. leucomelaena being their closest relatives). Birds from Alai and Pa.. View all taxonomy...
Systematics of this species and S. curruca and S. minula controversial. All three traditionally considered conspecific, but recent exhaustive phenotypic and genetic studies suggest that they should be treated as separate species, differing not only genetically but also vocally and in size (but less markedly in plumage); in parts of Asia where they breed very close to each other, they are segregated ecologically and altitudinally. The three appear to form a highly distinct clade (S. hortensis and S. leucomelaena being their closest relatives). Birds from Alai and Pamir Ranges E to Tien Shan sometimes separated as race monticola, but considered not reliably distinguishable from those in rest of range. Monotypic.
Distribution: Breeds from S Kazakhstan (Karatau Mts) E to SW & C Tien Shan, S in mountains to NW Himalayas, Afghanistan, SE Iran and W Pakistan, probably also in S Turkmenistan and NE Iran (Kopet Dag); non-breeding from S Iran (probably also S Iraq and S Afghanistan) E to S India and Sri Lanka, probably also SE Arabian Peninsula.
- Least Concern Enlarge map
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An individual singing from its perch on a pine tree Locality Chimgan Hills, Tashkent Province, Uzbekistan (Monotypic species)
Greg Baker 8 May 2008 7 weeks ago 24 sec 3.7
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