Appearance:

Long-tailed and slim bunting with striking head pattern and grey bill. Adult male unmistakable with lead-grey head and black eye-, crown- and moustache-stripe framing grey cheeks. Female with brownish tone to facial markings, not so pure grey breast and less rufous underparts. Both sexes with heavily streaked back, grey lesser coverts and white-tipped median and greater coverts. Rufous rump. Immature birds usually show emerging black eye- and moustache-stripe, and some black-tipped ear-coverts.

Sound:

Song variable, but usually distinct. Recalls stuttering Dunnock. Jerky, uneven thythm and tempo, with fairly large register and recognizible bunting timbre. May include mimicry. Alarm call a thin, short "seeeep", with clipped ending, similar to Cirl Bunting.

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:Oscar en Jolanda Balm, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Small and slender Sylvia about the size of Lesser Whitethroat. The short wings, steep forehead and striking long tail alone is often enough for positive id. Upperparts dark slate grey, and underparts of male vinous red with finely white spotted throat. Female less brightly coloured with more brownish tones and less red underparts. Immature duller still, with brownish underparts rather than red. Yellow base of lower mandible in all ages and sex. Lacks the white moustache-stripe of Subalpine Warbler. Tail frequently held raised. Skulking behaviour. Prefers scrubs/Gorse and is usually only glimpsed when moving low from bush to bush, or when singing from more exposed perch.

Sound:

Contact call a diagnostic, very nasal "chirr", quite different from other Sylvia, and used freely. Warning call a har "tuc". Song similar to Sardinian Warbler, but usually identifiable by frequently interspersed contact calls. Phrases are quite short, and pauses are as long or longer than the actual phrases. Each phrase typicall starts and ends with a more tonal segment than the regular chattering.

Song (with contact 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

CC-Photo:Marc Kolkman, Licence,Link.

CC-sound:Peter Boesman, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:chausinho, Licence,Link.

CC-Photo:Viskens Michel, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Ximo Galarza i Planes, Licence,Link.