Appearance:

Unmistakable. Only black and white passerine of it's size in Europe. Short rounded wings and exceptionally long tail. Wings fan-shaped and tail graded. Tail constitutes about half of the total length in adult birds. Compact body but relatively long legs. Flat crown. White wing patches/flight feathers very conspicuous in flight.

Sound:

Most notable sound a harsh, chattering "chechechecheche" used as warning call, or when mobbing predators. Rich repertoire includes soft and surprisingly varied sub-song.

Alarm call:

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

Appearance:

An almost featureless, large warbler with greyish brown upperparts and buff underparts. Lack of distinct characters is a character! Most distinct character is probably the faint, slate grey half-collar. Vent has no markings, eye is dark and bill is relatively short. Body quite plump, and facial expression gentle and mild. Usually stays hidden in foliage. Lacks nervous behaviour of other Sylvia, and does not normally flick its tail and wings.

Sound:

Song: a full bodied, flowing, melodious stream of notes, distinguished by its almost constant, warbled quality and lack of clear whistling notes (see Blackcap). Tempo is fairly even. Beware confusion possibility with occasional subsong of Blackcap that never reaches the whistling part! Call a nasal "che". Alarm call a hard "check", and a hoarse "tcherr".

Song:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

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

CC-photo:Billy Lindblom, Licence,Link,

CC-photo:themadbirdlady, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Martha de Jong-Lantink, Licence,Link.