Island leaf warbler
Taxonomy
The island leaf warbler was formally described in 1876 as Gerygone? poliocephala by the Italian zoologist Tommaso Salvadori based on a specimen collected in the Arfak Mountains of western New Guinea. The specific epithet combines the Ancient Greek πολιος/polios meaning "grey" or "grizzled" with -κεφαλος/-kephalos meaning "-headed". The island leaf warbler is now one of around 80 leaf warblers placed in the genus Phylloscopus that was introduced in 1826 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie .
Eighteen subspecies are recognised:
P. p. suaramerdu Rheindt, FE, Prawiradilaga, DM, Ashari, H, Suparno & Ng, NSR, 2020 – montane Peleng, in Banggai Island (off eastern Sulawesi ) (Peleng leaf warbler)
P. p. emilsalimi Rheindt, FE, Prawiradilaga, DM, Ashari, H, Suparno & Ng, NSR, 2020 – montane Taliabu (Sula Islands ) (Taliabu leaf warbler)
P. p. henrietta Stresemann, EFT , 1931 – northern Moluccas (Halmahera and Ternate )
P. p. waterstradti (Hartert, EJO , 1903) – montane Moluccas (Bacan Islands and Obi Islands )
P. p. everetti (Hartert, EJO, 1899) – montane Buru (southern Moluccas )
P. p. ceramensis (Ogilvie-Grant, WR , 1910) – montane southern Moluccas (Seram and Ambon )
P. p. avicola Hartert, EJO, 1924 – montane Kai Besar Island (Kai Islands )
P. p. matthiae Rothschild, LW & Hartert, EJO, 1924 – Mussau Island , in St. Matthias Group (north-central Bismarck Archipelago )
P. p. moorhousei Gilliard, ET & LeCroy, MK, 1967 – montane New Britain and Umboi Island (southeastern Bismarck Archipelago )
P. p. leletensis Salomonsen, F , 1965 – montane New Ireland (northeastern Bismarck Archipelago )
P. p. poliocephalus (Salvadori, AT , 1876) – montane northwestern New Guinea (Tamrau, Arfak, and Wandammen mountains)
P. p. albigularis Hartert, EJO & Paludan, KJ , 1936 – montane west-central New Guinea
P. p. cyclopum Hartert, EJO, 1930 – montane northern New Guinea (Cyclops Mountains )
P. p. giulianettii (Salvadori, AT, 1896) – montane New Guinea (Snow, Sepik, Saruwaged, and Herzog mountains)
P. p. hamlini Mayr, E & Rand, AL , 1935 – Goodenough Island , in D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago (off southeastern New Guinea )
P. p. becki Hartert, EJO, 1929 – montane Guadalcanal , Santa Isabel , and Malaita (central Solomon Islands )
P. p. bougainvillei Mayr, E, 1935 – montane Bougainville Island (northwestern Solomon Islands )
P. p. pallescens Mayr, E, 1935 – montane Kolombangara (west-central Solomon Islands )
References
↑ BirdLife International. (2024). "Phylloscopus poliocephalus " . IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2024 e.T103866004A264178023. doi :10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T103866004A264178023.en . Retrieved 19 February 2026 .
↑ Salvadori, Tommaso (1875). "Descrizione di cinquantotto nuove specie di uccelli, ed osservazioni intorno ad altre poco note, della Nuova Guinea e di altre Isole Papuane, raccolte dal Dr. Opoarpo Reccari e dai cacciatori del Sig. A.A. Bruijn" . Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova (in Italian and Latin). 7 : 896–976 [960].
↑ Mayr, Ernst ; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World . Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 254.
↑ Jobling, James A. "poliocephalus" . The Key to Scientific Names . Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 3 August 2025 .
1 2 AviList Core Team (2025). "AviList: The Global Avian Checklist, v2025" . doi :10.2173/avilist.v2025 . Retrieved 28 November 2025 .
1 2 Rheindt, F.E.; Prawiradilaga, D.M.; Ashari, H.; Suparno; Gwee, C.Y.; Lee, G.W.X.; Wu, M.Y.; Ng, N.S.R. (2020). "A lost world in Wallacea: description of a montane archipelagic avifauna". Science . 367 (6474): 167– 170. doi :10.1126/science.aax2146 . See supplement.
Phylloscopus poliocephalus