Appearance:

Small and compact, brown warbler with strong supercilium and streaked back. Crown dark with faint streaking, contrasting with broad supercilium. Rump unstreaked and warmer brown than back and tail. Juveniles with faintly streaked chest. Long primary projection. Body shorter and more compact than Reed Warbler. Easiest Achrocephalus to see in the region. Often sings from exposed branch or reed, is inquisitive and not very shy.

Sound:

Alarm call a hard "check". Anxiety call a dry and rolling "rrrrr". Song vigorous and varied. A mixture of musical sounds, expert mimicry and characteristic harsh and strident calls. Not as rhythmic and evenly paced as Reed Warbler, but varies tempo a lot.

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

Appearance:

Adults black, or dark grey with big white/off-white, crescent-shaped chest patch. The light grey fringes to the flight-feathers gives the whole wing a silvery look, especially in flight. Juveniles have a more brownish base colour, with lighter scaly underparts and just a vague chest patch. The whole bird gives a more slender impression than Blackbird, and the wings are longer. Flight more determined and direct than in Blackbird.

Sound:

Alarm call a series of "chok-chok". Thicker and more resonant than Redwing. Song a primitive, plaintive series of short phrases. Often with only one or two syllables. Interspersed with eerie, higher pitched sounds, reminiscent of Song Thrush.

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