Iberian Chiffchaff in Penwortham

[ianball]

Just returned from an evening sojourn to Howick Cross Lane in Higher Penwortham to see (and more importantly hear) the possible Iberian Chiffchaff. Very interesting bird. Not much different from a normal Chiffchaff but the song at times reminded me a little of the urgency you link to Cetti's Warbler - it was that loud! Eldest son enjoyed the experience.

[Leonard Poxon]

I saw and heard it Thursday morning. There are subtle differences in plumage, but the song is clearly not the normal Chiffchaff call, however it does not appear to be the normal Iberian Chiffchaff call either,

[ianball]

Colin Davies from St Helens has done a good comparison of the bird with the more widely accepted Iberian Chiffchaff currently in Telford - http://birdingsthelens.blogspot.co.uk/2 ... a.html?m=1
The powers that be seem to have already consigned this bird to the 'atypical' Chiffchaff bin without too many of those 'powers' actually seeing the bird. Definitely an interesting bird with the clean white underparts and cleaner eyestripe certainly making it stand out compared to the other Chiffchaff, even if it was a little dull overall.

[Leonard Poxon]

Some photos below:

[ianball]

Great pictures. You've captured some of the pro Iberian features really well there. I never had the bird in the sun like that so it always looked a lot duller. I've read that the finder has been advised to submit the bird to BBRC as an Iberian Chiffchaff based on both the sound and visual evidence.

[Leonard Poxon]

Ian, I have provided the finder with my photos and an audio soundtrack taken on my phone, It's a pity I can't post the soundtrack on this forum as it is so different from a normal Chiffchaff and also different from the standard Iberian Chiffchaff song.

[peter rowlands]

Brilliant captures Len, well done.

[ianball]

Len
If you go on xeno-canto the variability of songs is quite staggering for Iberian Chiffchaff. There are some on there that are very similar to the Penwortham bird. I managed to find a sonogram of one bird that overlapped with the Penwortham bird. My personal view is that it is not a standard collybita Chiffchaff. Based on my reading and research, and what I experienced in the field, my % would be towards Iberian. I've also already expressed elsewhere on another forum that it does seem a bit odd that Iberian is a full species and still causes confusion, whereas Siberian is only a subspecies but seems to be so much more distinctive. Still, it's birding like this that keeps us on our toes
Ian