Emei Leaf Warbler

The Emei leaf warbler is a small passerine, measuring 11–12 cm (4.3–4.7 in) in length. Its crown is greyish-green, slightly darker at rear than in front, with a pale median crown-stripe that is poorly marked in front, and slightly but noticeably broader, paler and more distinct at rear. It has a prominent pale yellowish-tinged supercilium and a distinct dark eye-stripe; the rest of ear-coverts are paler, with faint dark mottling. Its upperparts are dull green, clearly paler than the sides of its crown and eye-stripe. The wings and tail are primarily greenish, with distinct pale yellowish tips to the median coverts and broad pale yellowish tips to greater coverts, forming two prominent wing-bars. Its outermost tail-feather has a whitish edge measuring less than 0.5 mm (0.02 in) on the inner web and an indistinctly paler tip; the second outermost tail-feather has an even less distinct pale inner edge and tip. The bird's underside is whitish, indistinctly streaked with pale yellowish, and with slightly more yellowish undertail-coverts. Its iris is dark brown. Its upper mandible is blackish while the lower is pale orange. The tarsus, toes and claws are pinkish-grey, but the tarsus is slightly paler than the toes and claws. …

Breeds locally in Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangdong provinces, China and has recently been found to breed also in Shaanxi province, China. Appears on the breeding grounds in the latter part of April. One non-breeding record from southeast Myanmar. Number of mature individuals: No available data, but not known to be numerous anywhere.

Though the Emei leaf warbler is known to eat insects, there are currently no studies to support that claim.

The genus name Phylloscopus means "leaf gleaning" and the species name emeiensis refers to the mount Emei, where the species was first discovered.