Appearance:

Similar to Common Whitethroat but, with greyish fringes on secondaries and shorter tail and wings. Forehead less steep than in Common WT. Upperparts evenly dark brown with no contrast between shoulders and back. Head grey with slightly darker ear-coverts. Throat and belly white. Legs dark. Tail dark with white edges.

Sound:

Song typically consists of two parts. An indistinct chattering and warbling, subsong-like part similar to Whitethroat, which is usually followed by a dry, fast and rattling trill. The trill carries much further than the chattering part. May be difficult to identify if trill is omitted. Warning call a hard "check" similar to Blackcap but slightly softer

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:

Bulky, golden-brown heron with thick neck and short legs. Largely unmistakable but skulky behaviour makes it difficult to observe, as it generally forages hidden in reed-beds. Plumage mottled above, with coarse stripes below. Primaries and most secondaries with dark barring, in contrast to paler coverts. May recall Eagle Owl in flight with broad, rounded wings and retracted neck, but wings are bowed and legs trail behind tail. Crown and moustache stripe black in adult and brown in immature birds. Betrays its presence by it's far reaching song.

Sound:

Flight call a deep croaking "graat". Song unmistakable and far reaching (up to 5 km). Pitch very deep, with timbre similar to blowing on a big empty bottle. At close range an "inbreath" is also audible (1-3 dampened, higher pitched introductory notes).

Song (note; recording not audible on small mobile devices):

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:littlew, Licence,Link.