Appearance:

Adult male easily recognized by black throat and strong white moustache stripes. Female often also with black spotted throat which, together with the moustache stripe and pale chest/belly, makes it easy to distinguish from other Sylvia. Females and immatures with pure white throat may be confused with female Sardinian Warbler, but show darker front half of head, paler and purer coloured belly and flanks (lacking brownish tinge) and white fringes to greater coverts and tertials (less obvious in worn plumage). For all plumages look for curved culmen, pointed bill and longer and squarer tail than Sardinian Warbler. Build more similar to Whitethroat than Sardinian Warbler, and also less agile than smaller Sylvia.

Sound:

Alarm call a rolling "trrrrrrrrt", similar to Spectacled Warbler, but less confluent (fewer pulses pr. sec.). Not as hard as corresponding call of Sardinian Warbler. Song a rapid mix of rolling alarm call type syllables, with interwoven single whistling notes. Rolling clearly softer than in Sardinian Warbler and often dominates the song with sequences of up to one second, giving it a very hectic feel. Each phrase rarely more than 2 seconds long. Some geographical variation exist and individuals with less rolling song easier to confuse with Sardinian and Cyprus Warbler.

Song (with extensive rolling), alarm, song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

CC

CC-photo:Oscar en Jolanda Balm, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Arie en Anneke Kolders, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Arie Kolders, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Mick Sway, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Anonymously brown and dark brown warbler. Slender bill, short rounded wings and broad waist and tail. Base colour varies from olive-brown to yellowish buff. Streaking also varies from diffuse to marked, and is most prominent on sides of throat and upper chest. juveniles are more streaked than adults. Rufous/olive fringes to tertials are broader on outer side (as opposed to Pallas' Grasshopper Warbler). Secretive bird. Generally discovered by song.

Sound:

Song insect-like and high-pitched. A monotonous stream of even clicks similar to a running fishing line. Maintained for seemingly endless periods, and often hard to locate. Song most similar to Savi's Warbler but is slower (each click more separated), and higher pitched with a metallic, ringing quality. Short sequences of song also functions as contact call. Also a Robin-like "tick".

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC