Song repertoire and origins of crimean population of chiffchaff, Phylloscopus collybita (Sylviidae)

Abstract

Song repertoire of geographically isolated Chiffchaff population that formed in Crimean mountains in 1990s is analyzed. There are 42 song elements in the Crimean Chiffchaff repertoire. A quarter of their song elements appear to be specific for this population because it is absent in neighboring European Chiffchaff populations from regions to the north (Ph. c. abietinus subspecies) and west (Ph. c. collybita subspecies). Comparison of song elements of Crimean Chiffchaffs with those of Caucasian birds of Ph. c. caucasica subspecies shows that they belong to same vocal population: specific elements in Crimean Chiffchaff songs are found also in songs of Caucasian birds. This is evidence that breeding population of Chiffchaff in Crimea originated from the species expansion from Caucasus, and that Crimean Chiffchaffs belong to Ph. c. caucasica subspecies.