Lemon-rumped Warbler

The lemon-rumped, or pale-rumped, warbler is a small leaf warbler 9–10 cm long and about 4.6–5.1 g. It has a whitish crown stripe bordered by darker olive-brown sides, a pale line above the eye and a dark eyestripe that often curves downward, with grey-brown wings edged green, usually with one or two pale wingbars. It is structurally identical to the Sichuan leaf warbler but differs in vocalisations, and two subspecies are recognised, one in the central and eastern Himalaya and a greener, more buff-toned one in the west (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in montane forests and winters in the southern foothills and the Purvanchal Range, making altitudinal movements. In Pakistan it is most frequent at 2,200–2,700 m, and in Nepal it ranges up to 4,000 m; winter records occur from 300 to 2,700 m, generally above 1,000 m. It feeds mainly on insects and larvae, alone or in pairs in winter and also in mixed-species flocks. SoIB 2023 rates it a Moderate conservation priority, a resident and altitudinal migrant with a Moderate range of about 191,000 km² and a decline of about 42% over the long term (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).