Dowley Gap Chiffchaff

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Thanks to Alan T for sending more of his Chiffchaff images. The debate about its ID can now continue.....

This is from Mick Cunningham;

This is an interesting bird. I should say it is likely an eastern bird ie abietinus type not tristis. In the old days it might have got called tristis but as there is some greeny on mantle and wings it won’t now as Svennson says tristis is basically various shades of brown or buff (not grey above pale below as we used to think). A mate of mine on BBRC doubts this tho and asked me to look at chiffys in India which must be tristis. I did but they were all like Svensson said so it seemed he was right. Until me and same mate went to Mongolia last sept and saw chiffs that DID have some olive!! Who knows what they are.

Still, I read the dowley bird was singing – i assume this was the normal ‘chiff chaff’ which rules out tristis but not abietinus.

The following point to abietinus with the caveats that if it were caught and showed more olive in the hand than the field or it has got greener since the pics were taken owing to mid-winter body moult it might be a western-abietinus intergrade.

Pro-abietinus are

Basically browny with limited olive or yellow anywhere
The cold, pale whitish below – and, possib?? Less yellow or buffy flank and breast-sides
Greeny in wings reduced to fringes
Well-defined supercilium, especially behind eye
Wingbar
None of these is proof in itself but the whole suite = a certain look, pointing to abietinus and it’s worth logging all this for the day someone finds the defining characters – or proves it’s not poss in field. But it should be in spring plumage by end of Feb so if it is still there, singing like normal chiffy, and still shows same plumage I’d be inclined to see it as abietinus. Of course all this depends on accuracy of colour in pics/on monitor. Notes would be help – or andy ringing it for structure.
It reminds me of a bird from dowley years ago which i submitted to YNU as showing characteristics of eastern birds – prob aietinus ( they wrongly published as tristis). Interestingly, that bird only responded to tristis song if i recall rightly?

Mick Cunningham