Old World Warblers (Sylviidae)

Upcher's Warbler (Hippolais languida) - HBW 11, p. 637

French: Hypolaïs d’Upcher German: Dornspötter Spanish: Zarcero Lánguido

Taxonomy: Curruca languida Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1833, Syria.
Sister-species of H. olivetorum, the two being fairly close to the sister-species pair formed by H. polyglotta and H. icterina. E populations (E from E Iran) sometimes separated as a geographical race, magnirostris, on basis mainly of slightly paler upperparts, but appear indistinguishable from birds elsewhere in species’ range. Treated as monotypic.

Distribution: Breeds locally NC & S Turkey, Syria, Israel, extreme S Caucasus, Iran, and from SW Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan E in mountains to Tajikistan, Afghanistan and SW Pakistan; non-breeding E Africa.