page_title: Pallas's leaf warbler
section_title: Description
hierarchical_section_title: Pallas's leaf warbler / Description
caption_attribution_description: Pallas's Leaf-Warbler - great rarity in Italy_S4E1751
context_page_description: Pallas's leaf warbler or Pallas's warbler is a bird that breeds in mountain forests from southern Siberia east to northern Mongolia and northeast China. It is named for German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas, who first formally described it. This leaf warbler is strongly migratory, wintering mainly in south China and adjacent areas of southeast Asia, although in recent decades increasing numbers have been found in Europe in autumn.
  Pallas's leaf warbler is one of the smallest Palearctic warblers, with a relatively large head and short tail. It has greenish upperparts and white underparts, a lemon-yellow rump, and yellow double wingbars, supercilia and central crown stripe. It is similar in appearance to several other Asian warblers, including some that were formerly considered to be its subspecies, although its distinctive vocalisations aid identification.
  The female builds a cup nest in a tree or bush, and incubates the four to six eggs, which hatch after 12–13 days. The chicks are fed mainly by the female and fledge when they are 12–14 days old; both parents then bring food for about a week.
context_section_description: Pallas's leaf warbler is one of the smallest warblers, with a large head and short tail. At 9–10 centimetres (3.5–3.9 in) long and 4–7 grams (0.14–0.25 oz) in weight, it is slightly smaller than a yellow-browed warbler and barely any larger than a goldcrest. It has greenish upperparts and white underparts, but is very striking, with prominent pale yellow double wingbars on the wing covert feathers, bold yellow supercilia and central crown stripe, and a lemon-yellow rump. The bill is blackish-brown with a yellowish tinge to the cutting edges and the base of the lower mandible, the iris is brown, and the legs are brown with a green or greyish tinge. Although the yellow rump is obvious when a bird is low in vegetation or hovering, it can otherwise be hard to see.
  In Asia, Pallas's leaf warbler can be distinguished from its former subspecies by its yellower head stripes, wingbars and throat as well as its different vocalisations. Other yellow-rumped Asiatic warblers resemble Pallas's; buff-barred and Brooks's leaf warblers are larger, much duller green above and less strongly marked, and their wing bars are buff and white respectively, not yellow. Ashy-throated warbler has grey head markings, face and throat, and pale yellow underparts.
  The sexes of Pallas's leaf warbler have similar plumage, but non-breeding birds are somewhat brighter green above and have broad, bright fringes to their flight feathers. Juveniles are like the adults, but have a brown tinge to the upperparts, greyish-white underparts and a duller supercilium. Adults have a complete post-breeding moult in August or September before migrating south. Juveniles and pre-breeding adults have a partial moult in March or April, replacing all the body plumage and some tail feathers.
  The song of Pallas's leaf warbler is delivered from a concealed perch near the top of a tall tree. It is strong and prolonged, with a medley of whistles, tirrit-tirrt-tirrit-terchee-choo-choo-chee-chee-chee or similar, with some phrases reminiscent of a canary, and interspersed trills. It lasts 2–4 seconds and may be heard in the winter quarters as well as from breeding birds. The call is a short, soft dju-ee. In contrast, the former subspecies have quite different songs, with sustained rattles for several seconds, or sometimes minutes. Their calls are typically sharp and monosyllabic.
caption: Showing head stripes
exif: {"Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "GIMP 2.10.2", "Image DateTime": "2021:07:29 19:25:49", "Image ExifOffset": "134", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:01:24 11:30:08", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:01:24 11:30:08", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "01", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "01"}