Subspecies identification of Lesser Whitethroats, Sylvia curruca, wintering in southern Iran as inferred from DNA sequences (Aves: Sylviidae)

The Lesser Whitethroat Sylvia curruca complex has a wide distribution in the east and west Palaearctic and comprises phenotypically very similar, but genetically distinct forms. In order to determine the origin of the birds wintering on Qeshm Island in the Persian Gulf, we studied the nucleotide sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene of 23 individuals and compared them with sequences publicly available on Gen-Bank. The birds from Qeshm were attributed to the subspecies S. c. halimodendri, probably breeding in areas of Kazakhstan and China, and formed two distinct clades. As the genetic distance between these groups is very low, it is likely that they represent different populations of the same taxon.