On 2nd January 2017, ST found a Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus in the village of El Pelayo (near Tarifa), in Andalucía, Spain. The bird was subsequently present in an area of Cork Oaks Quercus suber for around six weeks and was presumed to have overwintered. Later that year, two Yellow-browed Warblers were found in the area, one on 30th October 2017, at the same site as the first, and the second on 1st November 2017, no more than 500 m from the first. One of these overwintered and, on 28th January 2018, was trapped and ringed by JMGP. It had a fat score of 0 (on a scale of 0–3) and a muscle score of 2 (scale 0–8; Redfern & Clark 2001), levels which suggest a wintering bird rather than an active migrant. Then, on 4th November 2018, ST found a ringed Yellow-browed Warbler in El Pelayo; on closer examination of the photos, the ring number was confirmed to be that of the ringed bird from the previous winter (plate 386).
Ringing recovery of Yellow-browed Warbler in Andalucía confirms overwintering in consecutive winters
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