Identifying Wood Warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix

Quite a little bit stressed recently and I don’t even have time to do a full day proper birding. Anyway, I can still do some online birding and hopefully I can start some more writing soon.

Phylloscopus are always my favourite but identification is not always straight forward, so I will study and review whenever I can see a new phyllo.

The first phyllo of my Identifying series is the Wood Warbler, quite a straight forward one and a vagrant in HK. Putting it here mainly because the photo is acceptable to show as many ID features as it can, and it is quite fresh - just taken this spring.

The first impression of Wood Warbler is a longish warbler (like the Arctic Warbler complex) but showing lemon yellow throat, supercilium, and upper breast (in good lighting), the underparts is then silvery white which is also distinctive in certain angle. When look at its back, the fringes on tertials recall Yellow-browed Warbler but the primary projection is much much longer than any other usual Phylloscopus in HK.

Anyway, Wood Warbler is quite unmistakable in acceptable view but of course the best identification feature of Phylloscopus is call/song (or DNA well...). And we are glad we didn’t dip this first official record in HK.

Wood Warbler in Hong Kong, Apr 2019