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Eastern Bonelli's Warbler

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler

Phylloscopus orientalis

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The Eastern Bonelli's Warbler is a small leaf warbler that breeds in south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor and winters in the Sahel. Slim and plain, it is grey above with greenish edges to the wings and whitish below. It is very like the Western Bonelli's Warbler, but their ranges do not overlap and their calls differ sharply. It is a rare vagrant to northern Europe.

Did you know?

  • Its call is a hard “chup”, completely unlike the Western Bonelli's Warbler's “hoo-eet”.
  • It is named after the Italian ornithologist Franco Andrea Bonelli.

Voice

Song

About the species

Identification

A small leaf warbler (about 11–12 cm) whose back is clearly brownish-grey without a green tone, and whose underparts are white; the wing panel and tail edges are greenish. It is told from Western Bonelli's Warbler by its colder, less greenish upperparts and different call, a hard “chup”.

Family

Sylviidae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

brown, white, yellow, grey

About the habitat

Dry oak and pine woodland on hillsides in south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor; in winter acacia savanna.

Diet

Mainly small insects and other invertebrates picked from leaves and branches in the canopy and understorey.

Behaviour

A lively, migratory warbler that forages actively through foliage and sings a fast, monotone trill in spring. It nests on the ground in woodland, laying four to six eggs. The sexes look alike.

Sources

Photo: Telegro, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eastern Bonelli's Warbler.jpg

Sound: Max Karlsson, XC1082049, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1082049

Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Bonelli%27s_warbler

See also