Appearance:

Summer: Red throat (seemingly black at a distance!). Lacks white vertical framing of throat patch and white spotted back of Black-throated Diver. Winter: Quite pale. White face and eye-ring. Just a narrow stripe of dark grey along the back of the neck. In all plumages best identified by posture and silhouette, especially when seen at a distance. Slender neck, head and bill. Flat chest. Usually shows no white flank patch. Bill usually held uptilted.

Sound:

In flight; nasal, dry, gooselike series of rhythmic cackling "ko-ko-ko". Most vocal when courting and breeding. A meowing drawn-out sound starting with a register break, then falling in pitch. Display call a far reaching rolling cyclic cooing, given in long sequences.

Song/display:

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-sound:Lauri Hallikainen, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Large and robust warbler with plain plumage, except for the characteristic cap (black in males, rufous in females and juveniles). Upperparts greyish brown and underparts pale grey. Vent white. No white in tail, as opposed to all other black-capped Sylvias in the region. Easily confused with Garden Warbler if the cap is not seen.

Sound:

Song pleasing, varied and loud. Sometimes very similar to Garden Warbler. A typical phrase starts with soft, staccato chattering and mimicry, which after a few seconds changes to a much louder, pure and resonant stream of notes for about 3-5 seconds. No fixed motif, but may end phrases with recurring notes. Often deviates from the characteristic type of song, and identification from song alone may be impossible. May sing first part of song for extended periods without ever reaching the characteristic ending. Alarm call a hard "check", similar to Lesser White-throat. Sometimes with an additional hoarse and nasal "cherrrr".

Alarm call, 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