Hainan leaf warbler  (Phylloscopus hainanus)

Classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List 2007 (1).

This is a rather small, slim leaf-warbler with vivid green upperparts, prominent yellow and greyish-green head stripes, and warm yellow wing-bars and underparts (2) (3). Both sexes have a similar plumage, but the female is smaller than the male on average (3).

Known only from seven localities in the mountains of Hainan Island, China (2).

Found in primary, selectively logged and secondary broadleaf forest and scrub, mainly in the latter, at edges of mature tropical forest, from 640 to 1,500 metres above sea level (2) (3).

The diet of the Hainan leaf warbler is unknown, but is presumed to mainly comprise small leaf-dwelling insects and their larvae, as in other warblers of the Phylloscopus genus (4). Foraging may occur singly or in pairs, but has been recorded in flocks of up to 30. Mixed-species flocks are also sometimes joined (3).

Fledged young and a nest with nearly full-grown young have been found in late April, and breeding is believed to be over by late May, as no signs of breeding activity or territorialism have been observed at that time (3) (4).

The Hainan leaf warbler is considered threatened due to its highly restricted range and the ongoing deforestation on the island (2) (3). Timber extraction, the replacement of forest by rubber plantations, slash-and-burn agriculture and the unrestricted cutting of wood for fuel and other uses has destroyed and fragmented Hainan’s forests, and left much of the remaining forest disturbed and modified (2) (4).

The Hainan leaf warbler has been recorded in Bawangling National Nature Reserve, Jianfengling, Baishuiling, Nanweiling, Wuzhi Shan, and Jiaxi Nature Reserves and Limu Shan Forest Park (a proposed nature reserve). A number of studies on the species have been conducted in recent years, helping to provide crucial information on its distribution and abundance (2).

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

For more information on the Hainan leaf warbler see:

• BirdLife International. (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.