Habitat
Low, sparse taiga, scrub or bushes near swamps or edges of lowland, or in thickets on slopes. On migration skulks in dense vegetation. Favors reeds or tall grasses with some low trees near streams, ditches, rivers or ponds.
Belgium, Bhutan, Cambodia, China (mainland) (B), Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Hong Kong (China), Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan (B), Laos, Mexico, Mongolia (B), Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands Antilles, North Korea (B), Norway, Poland, Russia (Asian) (B), Russia (Central Asian) (B), Russia (European) (B), Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan (China), Thailand, USA, Vietnam.
Vagrant to Austria, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Yemen.
Unknown to Afghanistan.
Central Siberia, across Russia, southern Russian Far East, Ussuriland and Sakhalin, north-eastern China and north and central Korea. Winters from coastal south-eastern China and Taiwan to south and south-eastern Asia. Scarce migrant to Japan and southern Korea.
Voice
Similar to that of Japanese Bush-Warbler (Horornis diphone) and Northern Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes). A hard, dry, but somwhat muffled 'tak tak tak', 'tchak', 'chett' or 'chack'. A rolled 'trrae'. Song is a rapid series of monotonous notes, delivered from the top of a bush, 'chubichubichubi chochochocho', and a distinctive, repetitive 'chewee chewee chewee'.
Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus) [XC637039]
by Agris Celmins from Chiang Dao paddies, India (call)
Dusky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuscatus) [XC609920]
by Matteo Barattieri from Calolziocorte, Provincia di Lecco, Lombardia, Belgium (call)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Subspecies
Sometimes treated as conspecific with Smoky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuligiventer).
The following 3 subspecies are recognised:
fuscatus (Blyth, 1842) - Breeds central and eastern Siberia from R Ob’ east to R Anadyr basin, south to Tomsk region, Mongolia, north-eastern China and Russian Far East (Ussuriland). Non-breeding southern China, northern Vietnam and Taiwan.
robustus Stresemann, 1923 - Breeds north-central China (Gansu and Inner Mongolia to northern Sichuan). Non-breeding northern Thailand and Laos.
weigoldi Stresemann, 1924 - Breeds western-central China (southern Qinghai and eastern Xizang east to north-western Sichuan). Non-breeding Himalayan foothills of Nepal east to north-eastern India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur), Bangladesh, Andaman Is and northern Myanmar. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Smoky Warbler (Phylloscopus fuligiventer).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet