Iberian chiffchaff explained

The Iberian chiffchaff (Phylloscopus ibericus) is a species of leaf warbler endemic to Portugal, Spain and North Africa, west of a line stretching roughly from the western Pyrenees via the mountains of central Spain to the Atlantic.

Taxonomy and etymology

The name "chiffchaff" is onomatopoeic, referring to the repetitive chiff-chaff song of the common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita).^[1] There are similar names in some other European languages, such as the Dutch Tjiftjaf, the German Zilpzalp and Welsh siff-saff. The genus name Phylloscopus is from Ancient Greek phullon, "leaf", and skopos, "seeker" (from skopeo, "to watch"). The specific ibericus is Latin for "Iberian".^[2]

Previously the Iberian chiffchaff was considered as a subspecies of the common chiffchaff. As of 2016, it is recognised as a separate species under the name Phylloscopus ibericus^[3] for the following reasons (compared to the common chiffchaff):^[4]

• Brighter in colour
• Greener rump
• Yellower below
• Vocalisations different
• mtDNA sequence divergence

Due to current research on these species, it has been discovered that Iberian Chiffchaff is the most divergent among the members of the chiffchaff species complex. The Iberian Chiffchaff is slightly larger and paler, with more olive-colored plumage.^[5]

In past, erroneously listed as Phylloscopus brehmii.^{[6] [7]}

Further reading

• Svensson, Lars (2001). "The correct name of the Iberian Chiffchaff Phylloscopus ibericus Ticehurst 1937, its identification and new evidence of its winter grounds". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 121: 281–296.

External links

• Ageing and sexing (PDF; 1.8 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze

Notes and References

1. Book: Cocker, Mark . Mabey, Richard . Birds Britannica . 2005 . London . Chatto & Windus . 378–9. 0-7011-6907-9.
2. Book: Jobling, James A . 2010. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names . Christopher Helm . London . 978-1-4081-2501-4 . 201, 305.
3. Sangster, George; Knox, Alan G.; Helbig, Andreas J. & Parkin, David T. (2002): "Taxonomic recommendations for European birds. " Ibis 144(1): 153–159.
4. Helbig, A. J.; Martens, J.; Seibold, I.; Henning, F.; Schottler, B. & Wink, M. (1996): Phylogeny and species limits in the Palearctic Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita complex: mitochondrial genetic differentiation and bioacoustic evidence. Ibis 138(4): 650–666.
5. Raković . Marko . Neto . Júlio M. . Lopes . Ricardo J. . Koblik . Evgeniy A. . Fadeev . Igor V. . Lohman . Yuriy V. . Aghayan . Sargis A. . Boano . Giovanni . Pavia . Marco . Perlman . Yoav . Kiat . Yosef . Ben Dov . Amir . Collinson . J. Martin . Voelker . Gary . Drovetski . Sergei V. . Geographic patterns of mtDNA and Z-linked sequence variation in the Common Chiffchaff and the 'chiffchaff complex' . PLOS ONE . 4 January 2019 . 14 . 1 . e0210268 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0210268. 30608988 . 6319743 . free .
6. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/123890#page/300/mode/2up Svensson, L. (2001). The correct name of the Iberian Chiffchaff Phylloscopus ibericus Ticehurst 1937, its identification and new evidence of its winter grounds. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 121(4): 281–296.
7. https://www.hbw.com/species/iberian-chiffchaff-phylloscopus-ibericus Clement, P. & Garcia, E.F.J. (2018). Iberian Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus ibericus). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.