Population genetics and key phenotypic variability does not support different subspecies of Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler <i>Phylloscopus ruficapilla</i> within the Eastern Cape, South Africa

Bird subspecies classifications sometimes reflect arbitrary phenotypic distinctions that do not correspond to reciprocally monophyletic groups (Zink 2004;Remsen 2005).This trend may also prove apparent in the taxonomy of southern African subspecies which have frequently been described based on plumage variation alone (e.g.Hockey et al. 2005; Chittenden et al. 2012).One such example of this is the Afromontane and scarp forest-dwelling Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler Phylloscopus ruficapilla (Sundevall, 1850) (=Seicercus ruficapilla: Clancey 1991; Dickinson and Christidis 2014; Dean et al. 2022), which has been split into two subspecies in South Africa: the nominate P. r. ruficapilla (type locality: Durban,