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PLATE 88: IDUNA AND HIPPOLAIS WARBLERS
Booted Warbler Iduna caligata pm, wv
L: 11.5. Small with short, rather fine bill, rounded forehead, recalling Phylloscopus, but crown
slightly peaked and bill broad-based, with pale tips and edges to outer tail feathers. Tail sometimes
raised quickly upwards. Lacks pale wing-panel. Confusable with Sykes’s Warbler but bill shorter,
distinctly finer and usually shows dark-tipped lower mandible; upperparts grey-brown (lacking
olive); longer, better-defined supercilium, sometimes with dark upper border, extending beyond
eye. Legs flesh-brown with darker feet. Voice Song has rhythm of Eastern Olivaceous, but faster,
more melodious without quick repetition of phrases. Call recalls weak Lesser Whitethroat’s tek-tek.
Habitat Scrub, tamarisk and woodland, often near water; frequently in low cover, even weeds, on
passage. Note Passage hatched, but poorly known and rare; vagrant Gulf states.
Sykes’s Warbler Iduna rama rb, pm?
L: 11.5. Only subtly different from Booted Warbler, having plainer face, longer bill, with pale lower
mandible, longer tail, usually shorter primary projection (accentuating tail length), greyish-
pink legs and marginally paler underparts lacking any buff; also has more horizontal stance and
Acrocephalus-like appearance and habits. Voice Song bubbly with scratchy Sylvia subsong-like
sequences, starting with tiju-tiju-tiju (of tit-like character). Call hard, clicking tak. Habitat Breeds
in tamarisk, damp scrub, grazed mangroves; trees or scrub on passage. Note Isolated breeding
population in N Oman. Passage hatched, though rare; vagrant Qatar.Thick-billed Warbler Iduna aedon V
L 18. Large, plain-looking Iduna warbler with short primary projection and long tail, somewhat
resembling a shrike in shape. Plumage warm, rusty-brown with pale lores and no supercilium.
Bill large, rather thick, but shorter than Clamorous Reed Warbler, which it somewhat resembles, but
note absence of supercilium and pale lores. Voice Soft tuk, sometimes repeated rapidly tuk-tuk-tuk.
Also a hard chak. Habitat Woodlands, dense, thick bushes. Note Vagrant Oman.
Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Iduna pallida PM
L: 12.5. Recalls Acrocephalus warbler but greyer with square-ended or slightly rounded tail and
shorter undertail-coverts. Upperparts olive-brown, tinged greyish on head and mantle, underparts
buffish-white (juvenile suffused yellowish) with white throat; wings with marked pale panel in
spring at least, tail brown inconspicuously fringed and tipped white on outer feathers. Pale eye-
ring and variably distinct supercilium from bill to rear of eye (longer, more contrasting supercilium
in Booted and Sykes’s Warblers); long, rather heavy, broad-based bill with yellow-pink lower
mandible; legs greyish-brown. Often deliberately flicks or pumps tail downwards (lacks circular
tail movements of Upcher’s Warbler). Voice Song like that of Caspian Reed Warbler in quality and
rhythm, repetitive and unmusical but jaunty. Calls short tch or tchek or more drawn-out che-ch-ch or
agitated trrrrr. Habitat Scrub, gardens, woodland, mangroves. Note Passage hatched.
Upcher’s Warbler Hippolais languida PM
L: 14. Similar to Eastern Olivaceous Warbler but larger with stronger bill, and proportionately longer,
much darker sooty-brown tail with broader white tips and edges, especially visible from below.
Tail uniquely waved up and down and sidewards in circular movements. Upperparts greyer in
fresh plumage (more like Eastern Olivaceous in abraded and juvenile plumage) with darker wings
and prominent pale wing-panel on closed wings in fresh plumage. Head more rounded than
Eastern Olivaceous, though pale supercilium weaker and often extends behind eye (depending on
lighting); legs cold grey. Larger Olive-tree Warbler has longer wing projection, powerful yellow-
orange bill and short supercilium usually only visible in front of eye. Upcher’s Warbler usually prefers
mid- and lower levels of bushes. Voice Song like Eastern Olivaceous but louder and more melodious.
Call similar to Eastern Olivaceous. Habitat Scrub, wooded areas. Note Passage hatched.
Olive-tree Warbler Hippolais olivetorum V
L: 16. Large, brownish-grey with prominent wing-panel and long, dagger-like, yellow-orange bill;
forehead flat, sometimes raises crown feathers, recalling Icterine Warbler. Head pattern weak,
faint supercilium usually only in front of eye. Underparts whitish-buff; off-white throat contrasting
with rather dark head and ear-coverts. Undertail-coverts with darker ‘V’s, hard to see. Tail dark,
edged and tipped whitish on outermost feathers; legs bluish-grey. Resembles Upcher’s Warbler
(q.v.). Often dips tail, sometimes waved and spread. Voice Song loud, harsh and raucous, rhythm
similar to Eastern Olivaceous but slower and lower-pitched. Call is often repeated tuc-tuc. Habitat
Scrub, trees. Note Passage hatched; vagrant Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen.