Appearance:

Small and short-winged Sylvia with large head and high crown. In all plumages; evenly warm rufous wing-panel (lacking dark centered greater coverts of Whitethroat), very short primary projection, dark tail, thin pointed bill, narrow dark centres to tertials, pure white chin and (incomplete) white eye-ring. Adult male with lead-grey head, dark/black lore and often grey lower throat. Female and immature differs from Whitethroat by short primary projection, smaller size, slender build and thinner bill. Told from immature Subalpine Warbler by warmer rufous wings with only narrow dark centres to tertials.

Sound:

Alarm call a dry, mechanical rattle; "trrrrrrrrrrrt", often rather long, but also given in pulses "trrrrrt-trrrt-trrrrrrrrr". More confluent and softer than similar call of Sardinian Warbler. Song rather weak and squeaky, but may be confused with several congeners. It typically starts with a few fluting notes then quickly giving way to fast alternating between clear tones and rattling pulses of "trrrrt". Phrases are short with marked pauses in between, and the structure is quite fixed even though each phrase is slightly different (in contrast to Sardinian and Subalpine Warbler). Sometimes bursts out in longer, more continuos flight-song.

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:Paul Cools, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Helen Commandeur, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Green upperparts and yellow underparts. Sides of bill yellowish, legs slate grey. Short yellow supercilium which connects to yellow lore. Long wings and relatively short tail. The flat crown and long bill gives it a different head profile from Sylvia warblers. Often raises crown feathers. Very similar to Melodious Warbler, but differs from this in pale wing-panel and longer wings. Folded wings reaches tip of under tail coverts, and primary projection is as long as tertials. Juveniles paler than adults, with whitish supercilium. The pale wing-panel extends to fringes of greater coverts in addition to secondaries. Alert and agile bird. Usually hidden in foliage, also when singing.

Sound:

Contact call distinct. A hard, trisyllabic "che-che-fink" , or "che-che-weet" with upward inflection. Song very virtuous and varied. Most similar to Marsh Warbler, but timbre and attack harder and more powerful. Tempo varied with many pauses, but includes longer, and more flowing sequences than Marsh Warbler. Song frequently interrupted by characteristic, nasal, high-pitched squeaks unlike Marsh Warbler. Master of mimicry. Imitations are often repeated several times before changing to melodious motifs or more "noisy" phrases.

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