Current view: Data table and detailed info
Taxonomic note
Previously placed in Sylvia (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) but moved to current genus following Cai et al. (2019). Races form two groups, “leucomelaena group” N & E of Red Sea and “blanfordi group” W & S of Red Sea, these differing primarily in size and in degree of sexual dimorphism, but barely at all in voice; both groups exhibit clinal variation in upperpart coloration (becoming darker and less grey N–S), and W group also in amount of white on tail (increasing N–S). Birds from Yemen described as distincta, but fall into range of individual variation of nominate. Four subspecies recognized.
Taxonomic source(s)
Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International. 2021. Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6. Available at: https://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6_Dec21.zip.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
Migratory status |
not a migrant |
Forest dependency |
does not normally occur in forest |
Land-mass type |
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: The global population size has not been quantified, but the species is reported to be frequent in Africa (Urban et al. 1997). The population is suspected to be in decline owing to degradation of acacia groves (del Hoyo et al. 2006).
Trend justification: The population is suspected to be in decline owing to degradation of acacia groves (del Hoyo et al. 2006).
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Arabian Warbler Curruca leucomelaena. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/arabian-warbler-curruca-leucomelaena on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.