IRBC - Announcements

Bonelli’s Warbler, 2004.

A recent taxonomic 'split' in Bonelli's Warbler elevated the eastern subspecies orientalis to a full species, Eastern Bonelli's Warbler Phylloscopus orientalis (Ibis 139: 198). While it has always been assumed that past records of Bonelli's Warbler in Ireland have involved the former nominate subspecies, now known as Western Bonelli's Warbler, there was clearly a need to examine the evidence for this more critically. In the event, where the specific identity of birds recorded in Ireland could be established (which depended on in-hand biometric data and/or a record of vocalisations) all proved to be Western Bonelli's. A minority of records were indeterminate, and two previously accepted records are now considered unacceptable. Full details of this review can be found in the 2002 Irish Bird Report (Irish Birds 7: 375-384).

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