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). Geographical variation minor; this species said to provide “an unexpected example of lack of diversification in a songbird occurring in oceanic islands” (Illera et al. 2014). Subspecies orbitalis appears to vary clinally from N to S; Madeira birds the most distinctive, and formerly separated as subspecies bella, while those from Cape Verde Is are closest to nominate, and those from Canary Is intermediate (underparts very much like nominate, upperparts more deeply coloured). Two subspecies recognized.
Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Simmons, K.E.L. (eds). 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.
IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Red List history
| Migratory status |
full migrant |
Forest dependency |
does not normally occur in forest |
| Land-mass type |
|
Average mass |
- |
Population justification: In Europe, the total population size is estimated at 327,000-891,000 mature individuals, with 163,000-446,000 breeding pairs (BirdLife International 2021), and comprises approximately 35% of the species' global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is between 934,000-2,550,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is desirable. In Europe, the species' population is considered to have remained relatively stable over three generations (10 years) (BirdLife International 2021). Based on these data, and the proportion of the species' global range that this region holds, the global population size is considered to be stable over three generations.
Trend justification: .
Country/territory distribution
Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Spectacled Warbler Curruca conspicillata. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/spectacled-warbler-curruca-conspicillata on 22/12/2024.
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 22/12/2024.
