Breeds in central and north-eastern China (eastern Qinghai, southern Gansu, Shanxi and Hebei southern to
Sichuan and Shaanxi). Non-breeding apparently south-eastern Asia.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Chinese Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus yunnanensis) [XC807628]
by Xingyu Li \u674e\u5174\u5b87 from Hubei, China (song)
Chinese Leaf Warbler (Phylloscopus yunnanensis) [XC23395]
by Frank Lambert from Dong Xia, about 1 hour from Xining, China (call)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Soon after being initially described, from specimens taken while on migration, this taxon was synonymized with Lemon-rumped Leaf-Warbler (Phylloscopus chloronotus) (which was at the time treated as a subspecies of Blyth's Leaf-Warbler (Phylloscopus reguloides)). Recent studies in breeding area led to discovery of significant differences from chloronotus in morphology, vocalizations, habitat choice and breeding biology, as well as sympatric breeding distributions and lack of response to playback of each other's songs. The present form was subsequently described as a new species, Phylloscopus sichuanensis, which was later realized to be a junior synonym of existing name. In addition, considerable cytochrome b sequence divergence from the "Pallas's Leaf-Warbler (Phylloscopus proregulus) complex" found in laboratory analyses.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet