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Savi's Warbler

Savi's Warbler

Locustella luscinioides

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Savi's Warbler is a small warbler of reedbeds that breeds across Europe and the western Palearctic and winters in Africa south of the Sahara. Slim and plain reddish-brown above with pale underparts, it is more often heard than seen. Its signature sound is a steady, low, insect-like buzzing reel, often delivered from the top of a reed at dusk and at night.

Did you know?

  • Both males and females sing.
  • Its reeling song closely resembles the sound of Roesel's bush-cricket.

Voice

Song
Call
Alarm call

About the species

Identification

Length about 13.5–15 cm; slightly larger than Common Grasshopper Warbler and similar in size and colour to Reed Warbler. The underparts are unstreaked, the tail rounded and the undertail coverts long; it lacks streaking above. The song is a high, continuous buzzing reel resembling Grasshopper Warbler's but lower and faster, often heard at night from tall reeds or reedmace.

Family

Locustellidae

Size

Small (sparrow)

Colours

brown, white, grey

About the habitat

Extensive reedbeds, fens, marshes and lagoons with reeds, reedmace and sedges, often with scattered willows; similar wetlands in winter.

Diet

Mainly insects – flies, beetles, moths, larvae and damselflies – as well as spiders and small worms.

Behaviour

A reedbed specialist that skulks low in dense vegetation but climbs reed stems to sing its steady reel; both sexes sing. It holds territories in dense stands of reeds and sedges and builds a well-hidden nest in the reeds; the female incubates and the male helps feed the chicks.

Sources

Photo: Created by Sergey Yeliseev., CC BY 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Locustellaluscinioides.jpg

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC1136253, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1136253

Sound: Pascal Christe, XC1176021, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1176021

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC1175989, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/1175989

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

See also