Phylloscopus yunnanensis
The Chinese Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus yunnanensis) is a diminutive and highly active songbird, measuring about 9-10 cm in length and weighing 5-7 grams. Its plumage features olive-green upperparts, a striking bright yellowish supercilium, a dark eye-stripe, and a pale median crown-stripe, all contrasting with yellowish-white underparts that are washed yellow on the flanks and vent. A key field mark is the presence of two distinct yellowish wing-bars, with the upper bar typically longer and b...
Breeds in montane mixed forests, typically spruce, fir, or oak, with dense undergrowth at 1500-3000m; winters in lower elevation broadleaf evergreen forests, scrub, and secondary growth down to 100m.
Primarily insectivorous, feeding on small insects, their larvae, and spiders, gleaned from leaves and twigs.
This warbler is an incessantly active forager, constantly flitting and gleaning small insects and arthropods from the foliage and twigs, often in the canopy or mid-story, sometimes hovering to snatch prey. During the breeding season, males establish and vigorously defend territories through their...
The Chinese Leaf Warbler breeds across a broad swathe of central and northern China, including provinces such as Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, Sichuan, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Beijing, and possibly Hubei and western Henan, typically in high-altitude montane forests between 1500 and 300...
Least Concern
- The Chinese Leaf Warbler is one of the smallest members of the Old World warblers, weighing about as much as two U.S. quarters. - Its scientific name, 'yunnanensis,' directly refers to Yunnan province in China, a significant part of its wintering grounds. - Despite its visually striking resembl...