The Sardinian warbler was
formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist
Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of
Carl Linnaeus's
Systema Naturae. He placed it with the wagtails in the
genus Motacilla and coined the
binomial name Motacilla melanocephala. Gmelin based his entry on a description by the Italian zoologist
Francesco Cetti in his book
Gli uccelli di Sardegna (
The Birds of Sardinia) that was published in 1776. This was the second volume of his
Storia naturale di Sardegna. Cetti did not use scientific names for the species. When a translation of Cetti's three volumes were published in German, the translator, David Piesch, and the editor, Nathanael Gottfried Leske, included an Appendix at the end of the third volume (published in 1784) in which they proposed the binomial name
Motacilla melanocephala, the identical name that was later adopted by Gmelin. In spite of this earlier publication, as of 2023 Gmelin is treated as the authority for the species. The species was formerly placed in the genus
Sylvia that was introduced in 1769 by the Italian naturalist
Giovanni Antonio Scopoli. The genus name is from
Modern Latin silvia, a woodland sprite, related to
silva, a wood. The specific
melanocephala is from
Ancient Greek melas, "black", and
kephale, "head". Currently, the Sardinian warbler is placed in the genus
Curruca by the IOC, along with most of the species formerly classified in the genus
Sylvia. Together with
Menetries's warbler the Sardinian warbler forms a
superspecies. Both have white
malar areas and light throats, and otherwise black heads in adult males, as well as a naked ring around the eye. The
eastern subalpine warbler, which seems the superspecies' closest relative, has a dark throat and breast and a dark gray upper head in males, but otherwise shares these characters. These three species are related to a dark-throated superspecies consisting of
Rüppell's warbler and the
Cyprus warbler, which also share the white malar area with blackish above. This bird may be considered a
superspecies, divided into the western
Curruca melanocephala and
Curruca momus from the more arid regions of the
Near East and adjacent Africa.
Subspecies The geographical variation in the Sardinian warbler conforms to some extent with
Gloger's rule, though not as strongly as in some other typical warblers. The validity of
leucogastra and
norissae is not accepted by some authors, and
valverdei has been described very recently. On the other hand,
leucogastra might be more than one subspecies. •
Curruca melanocephala melanocephala (Gmelin, 1789) :
Iberia across the northern
Mediterranean to western
Turkey. Extends into the
Maghreb from Iberia, and into
Libya from
Italy via
Sicily. Migrates to the
Sahel and
oases in the Sahara in winter. :Large, long wings, tail tip rather pointed. A dark form, usually lacking any reddish in males but flanks extensively grey. Females' uppersides vary between deep olive brown and greyish olive. •
Curruca melanocephala leucogastra (Ledru, 1810) - often included in
melanocephala;
phylogenetic status requires review :
Canary Islands, resident, probably some vagrancy between eastern islands and Maghreb. :Medium size, short-winged and large-billed.
Tenerife and
La Palma (western) birds are most distinct, being dark above with some rusty/beige hue on the underside in males. Eastern birds (
Fuerteventura,
Lanzarote and
Gran Canaria) are more like
melanocephala and
momus but differ in measurements. •
Curruca melanocephala momus (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833) :
Near East. Resident, some local movements. :Smallish, short-winged. Varies between brownish grey and rusty above; underside almost always has reddish hue. Females rusty to rusty olive. •
Curruca melanocephala norissae Nicoll, 1917:
Fayyum warbler - probably only a local
morph of
momus :
Nile Delta region.
Extinct since around 1940. :Like
momus, but tend to be very reddish. •
Curruca melanocephala valverdei Cabot & Urdiales, 2005 - recently split from
melanocephala :From
Tiznit (
Morocco) south to the
Tropic of Cancer, inland to the edge of the
Sahara. Resident, but some seasonal movements. :Medium-sized, tail tip quite square. A very pure-colored form, the palest subspecies. Undersides clean white. Matte black cap in males. Juveniles decidedly sandy. ==Distribution and habitat==