Siberian Chiffchaff - Wadi Ad Dewasir

Whilst birding at Wadi Ad Dewasir this winter we fund four active Common Chiffchaff feeding in some roadside scrub. Three birds appeared to be normal abietinus type and the one a rather duller paler looking bird. The bird showed a brown and buff livery without any yellow away from the bend of the wing. It also had a buff supercillium and upper half of the eye-ring with the underparts suffused with buff. The Siberian Chiffchaff is a vagrant to Saudi Arabia with this bird being the third record for the Kingdom after two birds trapped and ringed in Jubail 23 January 2015 and 17 March 2017. Birds are possibly more common than known presently and may be overlooked, as care is needed with identification.

Siberian Chiffchaff trapped and ringed – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 17 March 2017 we caught two Chiffchaffs with one appearing to be the normal abietinus type and the one a rather duller paler looking bird, recalling slightly Siberian Chiffchaff tristis. I was uncertain of its racial identity so sent the photo to Alan Dean who has extensive knowledge of these birds. Alan mentioned the bird showed the right shade of brown in the upperparts but only a hint of buff wash on the breast and flanks. There is a lack of yellow away from the ‘shoulder’ and wing-edges and a lack of olive in the crown and mantle matching tristis. Alan also mentioned the bird appears greyer (less brown) above and whiter (less buff) below, but at this time of year tristis is in body moult (also some tertials and tail feathers) and can appear like the bird I trapped. I was completely unaware that the plumage changed so much due to moult in the spring. The bill and legs often appear very black but this feature is variable. If the bird calls the most distinct call is a thin, piping monosyllabic ‘peep’, but this bird was not calling. The Siberian Chiffchaff is a vagrant to Saudi Arabia with this bird being the second record for the Country after another bird trapped and ringed at the same location in January 2015. Records are rare or very rare from Kuwait (probably no confirmed records), Qatar and the UAE but they are regular wintering birds in Oman. Identity of Chiffchaffs in the Middle East is very complicated with Mountain Chiffchaffs nearby, which look quite like tristis, and a series of taxa with intriguing combinations of abietinus or intermediate plumage but tristis-like calls (the brevirostris/caucasicus/menzbieri group). Alan Dean who is an expert on many things including Chiffchaffs suggested it may be a tristis but said he was unfamiliar with the brevirostris/caucasicus/menzbieri subspecies at this time of year and sent the photos onto Jose Luis Copete. Jose Luis very kindly commented on the bird as well, indicating it was probably a tristis and ruled out other Chiffchaffs occurring in the Middle East as they show green tones on the mantle and as well as evident traces of yellow below. Jose Luis also added that brevirostris shows less green and has a longer primary projection which the trapped bird does not show. He also sent me his paper on Iberian Chiffchaffs with many photos of various subspecies and my bird clearly matches Siberian Chiffchaff rather than the other possible subspecies. I would like to thank Alan and Jose Luis for their very helpful comments on this bird and taking the time to answer my question on its racial identify.

tristis and abietinus Chiffchaffs caught and ringed – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst ringing at Sabkhat Al Fasl on 23 January 2015 we caught three Chiffchaffs with two appearing to be the normal abietinus types we catch, and one a rather duller paler looking bird recalling Siberian Chiffchaff tristis, that has just been elevated to full species status in the latest OSME regional list ORL version 3.0 and IOC4.1 list repurposes splitting. The Siberian Chiffchaff is shown below in the top photograph and shows a bird with a brown component to the plumage that is critical in the identification process as the upperparts often have a somewhat ‘tan’ appearance. The bird showed the right shade of brown in the upperparts and the buff wash on the breast and flanks with slight ‘additional’ yellow and olive compatible with ‘fulvescens’, generally treated as a western form of tristis, though it remains to be fully determined whether or not it’s appearance results from limited introgression of abietinus genes (Alan Dean pers comm). The main criteria for identification of Siberian Chiffchaff are as follows: Absence of olive in the crown and mantle with a grey-brown or pale brown hue in the upperparts. There is an absence of yellow away from the underwing with warm buff in the supercilium and ear-coverts and some buff at the breast-sides/flanks. The bill and legs often appear very black but this feature is variable. If the bird calls the most distinct call is a thin, piping monosyllabic ‘peep’. The Siberian Chiffchaff is a vagrant to Saudi Arabia with this bird being the first properly documented record for the Country. Records are rare from Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE but they are regular wintering birds in Oman. The second photo shows an abietinus type applying that designation in its broader sense. Identity of Chiffchaffs in the Middle East is very complicated with Mountain Chiffchaffs nearby, which look quite like tristis, and a series of taxa with intriguing combinations of abietinus or intermediate plumage but tristis-like calls (the brevirostris/caucasicus/menzbieri group), diagnosing Chiffchaffs can be a demanding exercise. I sent these photos to Alan Dean who is an expert on many things including Chiffchaffs and he agreed with my identifications and I would like to thank Alan for his very helpful comments on these birds.

Siberian Chiffchaff - tristis

Common Chiffchaff - abietinus