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Subalpine Warbler

Subalpine Warbler

Curruca cantillans

Identify the Subalpine Warbler by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Eastern Subalpine Warbler is a small, lively warbler of dry Mediterranean scrub in south-eastern Europe and western Turkey, wintering in Africa south of the Sahara. Males have a blue-grey head, white moustachial stripe and brick-red throat and breast; females are plainer brownish grey with buff tones below. Its song is a fast, rattling warble. The traditional Subalpine Warbler has been split into several species.

Did you know?

  • Males often build several flimsy “cock nests” before the real nest is made.
  • Its species name cantillans is Latin for “warbling”.

Voice

Song
Alarm call

About the species

Identification

The breeding male is blue-grey above, with reddish throat, breast and flanks and a white belly; the eye is red and the moustachial stripe white. The female is grey-headed, with only a faint reddish tinge on the breast and a pale eye-ring. Young birds resemble young Common Whitethroats; females and young are difficult to separate from Menetries's Warbler.

Family

Sylviidae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

grey, orange, red, white, blue

About the habitat

Dry, sunny maquis and garrigue with dense bushes, open woodland edges and scrubby ravines; on migration also coastal scrub.

Diet

Mainly small insects and their larvae and spiders; outside the breeding season also berries and other fruit.

Behaviour

Keeps low in dense scrub, moving with quick hops and frequent tail flicks, and sings a brisk, rattling warble from bush tops or in short song flights. Monogamous; the male often builds several flimsy “cock nests” before the pair completes the real nest, a deep cup low in a bush, and lays 3–5 eggs.

Sources

Photo: Antonios Tsaknakis, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Κοκκινοτσιροβάκος.jpg

Sound: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sylvia_cantillans_-_Subalpine_Warbler_XC471097.mp3

Sound: Joost van Bruggen, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sylvia_cantillans_-_Subalpine_Warbler_XC432212.mp3

Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_subalpine_warbler

See also