196
PLATE 91: SYLVIA WARBLERS III AND WHITE-EYES
Sardinian Warbler Sylvia melanocephala V
L: 13. Slightly larger than Ménétriés’s Warbler. Male distinctive with black head, red eye-ring and
contrasting white throat. Middle East race, momus, shows fairly pale fringes to tertials (and is paler
overall in all plumages than nominate race); otherwise with grey upperparts and flanks, reddish
legs and much white in blackish tail. Female and first-winter have rather dark upperparts, distinctly
darker than Ménétriés’s Warbler. Rather skulking. Voice Song composed of hard call-like rattling
notes mixed with short whistles in fast tempo, often given in songflight. Calls include a sudden
mechanical rattle of 4–6 syllables chret-tret-tret-tret-tret or slower terit-terit-terit-terit; also single
loud, hard tche. Habitat Dry, fairly open bushy scrub, thickets, pine and evergreen oak forests. In
winter in scrub, acacia, wadis, desert-edge, oases. Note Vagrant Oman.Ménétriés’s Warbler Sylvia mystacea PM, wv
L: 12.5. Small, characteristically waves tail sideways or up and down. Male has black forehead
and ear-coverts merging into grey crown; wings with sandy fringes and black alula. In fresh
plumage shows white moustachial stripe contrasting with salmon-pink to brick-red throat, paler on
breast (subspecies mystacea; breeding E Turkey, N Iran); pink much reduced or whitish in rubescens
(SE Turkey, W Iran, Iraq), with turcmenica intermediate (E Iran), but any may be whitish below when
abraded. Tail dark with much white in outer feathers; eye-ring varies from salmon-pink to red, bill
bicoloured. Legs usually pinkish-straw. Female and young paler, of plain appearance; with pale
sandy-brown upperparts, uniform buffish-white underparts and base of lower mandible straw or
pinkish; eye-ring from brown to yellow in adult female, dull brown to yellow-brown in first-autumn/
winter. Mostly active in low scrub or on the ground. Voice Song rather quiet but fast, a mixture of
melodious and soft grating notes. Calls include chak or tret or distinctive hard, quick-fire staccato
rattle; sometimes also a softer tshshshshsh. Habitat Scrub and thickets, riparian cover, often in
broken country. Note Passage hatched; winters S Iran and Arabia.Oriental White-eye Zosterops palpebrosus rb
L: 11. Small, slim and warbler-like with olive-green upperparts, prominent white eye-ring
(‘spectacles’) surrounded by narrow dark ring, and black lores. Forehead, ear-coverts, throat and
vent bright yellow, underparts otherwise off-white or greyish. Legs and rather small bill black.
Forages in groups; flies erratically through or just above canopy, calling frequently. Voice Call weak
and unremarkable but distinctive, recalling plaintive note of baby chickens or sparrows, or perhaps a
distant Siskin. Habitat Mangroves. Note Recently discovered resident in Iran and Oman as mapped.Abyssinian White-eye Zosterops abyssinicus RB
L: 12. Small and warbler-like with conspicuous white eye-ring (‘spectacles’) and short bill. Upperparts
greyish-green, throat and undertail-coverts pale yellow, breast and white belly often with smoky
wash. Very active, often in pairs or occasionally small groups and constantly on the move, calling
frequently. Voice Soft, fine and high-pitched tiiu; a fine purring trill or ripple; also a short low
waouw. Habitat Trees in wooded mountains through to gardens from c. 300 to 3000m. Builds cup-
shaped nest in outer branches of tree. Note Resident in S Oman; recent spread into central Oman.
[Alt: White-breasted White-eye]