Ménétriés’s Warbler trapped & ringed – Sabkhat Al Fasl

Whilst ringing in late February we caught and ringed a Ménétriés’s Warbler at a restricted access location of Sabkhat Al Fasl, Jubail, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Ménétriés’s Warbler is an uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor seen from October until April in most years but is not often seen at Sabkhat Al Fasl itself due to the lack of suitable cover. The bird we caught was a nominate Sylvia mystacea mystacea that breeds from the lower River Volga south to eastern Turkey, southeast Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and northern Iran and winters south to Arabia and northeast Africa. In this race the male has forehead, crown and ear-coverts blackish, grading into pale grey of upperparts with a broad white submoustachial stripe contrasting with vinous-pink throat to upper breast with pale greyish-pink breast side and flanks and a whitish belly. Two other races also occur in Saudi Arabia, S. m. turcmenica that breeds in southern Turkmenistan and northeast Iran, and from southern Kazakhstan, central and eastern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan south to northern Afghanistan, also western Pakistan and winters south to Arabia and northeast Africa. In this race the male is slightly paler and whiter below than nominate. S. m. rubescens breeds from southeast Turkey south to northern Syria, Iraq and western Iran and winters south to Arabia and northeast Africa. In this race the male is paler grey above and whiter below, vinous-pink coloration being replaced by faint pinkish tinge on chest.