Appearance
Like most ''Sylvia'' species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male has a grey back and head, brick-red underparts, and white malar streaks . The female is mainly brown above, with a greyer head, and whitish below with a pink flush. The subalpine warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is similar to the lesser whitethroat.This bird seems to be related to the Sardinian warbler-Menetries' warbler superspecies. They all have white malar areas, the heads being dark above in adult males, and naked eye-rings. These three species are related to a superspecies consisting of Rüppell's warbler and the Cyprus warbler, which also share the white malar area with blackish above.
Naming
It was first described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1764 and given the binomial name ''Motacilla cantillans''. The current genus name is from Modern Latin ''silvia'', a woodland sprite, related to ''silva'', a wood. The specific ''cantillans'' is Latin for "warbling" from ''canere'', "to sing".
Reproduction
This is a bird of dry open country, often on hill slopes, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or gorse, and 3–5 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries.References:
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