Non-breeding season records of the Alpine Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus occisinensis

Abstract

We present non-breeding season records of the recently named Alpine Leaf Warbler Phylloscopus occisinensis from Bangladesh (four individuals) and northern Thailand (one). Identification was based on mitochondrial DNA assay of feathers or blood from birds handled during ringing. Tickell's Leaf Warbler P. affinis (sensu lato) was abundant in scrub and scattered trees at the margins of wetlands in north-east Bangladesh, whilst the record from Thailand represents a significant eastwards extension of the previously recorded wintering range. Further sampling in South and South-East Asia will be necessary to resolve the winter ranges of the taxa affinis and occisinensis.