Appearance:

Small, warm buff warbler with skulking behaviour, but conspicuous song. Similar in size to Reed Warbler, but with short, rounded wings and rounded tail. Build fairly compact, but bill thin and slender. Supercilium thin and dull. Cheeks and underparts greyish white, lacking the purer white belly of confusion species. Pale eye-ring. Under tail-coverts usually brown with pale fringes. Often flicks tail or holds it raised. Usually hides among undergrowth, and shows itself only when moving from one shrub to another.

Sound:

Contact call a short, metallic, ascending "vitt". Often given in rapid series. Song diagnostic, and readily given throughout the year. Phrases last from 2 - 5 seconds, consisting of a few loud, clear and rapid glissandi, given in approximately same register. E.g. "cetti cetti cetti", usually with a few introductory notes, and some variation to the phrase. Overall a very explosive, and with a staccato rhythm.

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

CC-photo:Agustín Povedano, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Unmistakable in breeding plumage, but otherwise easily confused with other marsh terns. Breeding plumage with black head and belly, but pale underwing and grey rump. When in immature and winter plumage it differs from Common and Arctic tern by smaller size and short, moderately forked tail, and from other marsh terns by slimmer body and wings (compared to White-winged tern), and relatively long, thin bill. Both immature and adult winter show dark front edge of wing, and characteristic dark shoulder patch at wing base. Back is dark in immature birds. Grey rump in all plumages. Flight usually different from Sterna-terns, with erratic dives for no apparent reason, and "aimless" change of direction. Note that when foraging over saltwater, flight becomes more Sterna-like.

Sound:

Moderately vocal. Flight call a more or less clear "kleck, or a disyllabic "klee-ake" with accented first syllable. Sometimes slightly rolling "klirr-eke", but never as much as in White-winged Tern. Also a slightly harsher "kreek", but not as raspy as in Whiskered Tern.

Flight call:

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:Ad Postma, Licence,Link.