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Résumé :
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Following the split of 'Subalpine Warbler' into three subtly different species Western Subalpine Warbler Curruca iberiae, Moltoni's Warbler C. subalpina, and Eastern Subalpine Warbler C. cantillans documenting occurrences in an extralimital context has become more complex. This paper summarises genetic analyses of 70 birds (58 from Britain and 12 from other northwest European countries), mostly since 2013. It confirmed that all three species are occurring (37 Western Subalpine Warblers, 28 Eastern Subalpine Warblers, five Moltoni's Warblers).All Western Subalpine Warblers were genetically assignable to European populations, with no evidence that North African birds are reaching northern Europe. Of the 28 Eastern Subalpine Warblers confirmed, 23 were of the southeastern subspecies C. c. albistriata, and only five were nominate, southern Italian C. c. cantillans. Of the five Moltoni's Warblers, two were assignable to northern Italian breeding populations and three to the Mediterranean islands breeding population. For the majority of birds, their morphology and vocalisations were concordant with their DNA. Some, however, had plumage that was not, on current knowledge, considered typical for their genetic identification and birds such as these will continue to cause a problem for birders and assessment committees.
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