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Western Bonelli's Warbler
Phylloscopus bonelli
Identify the Western Bonelli's Warbler by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The Western Bonelli's Warbler is a small, plain leaf warbler of dry, open woodland in south-western Europe and North Africa that winters in the Sahel. Formerly lumped with the Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, it looks and sings much the same but differs clearly in its call. It is greyish-green above with a yellowish-green rump and wing edges and clean white underparts. It is a rare vagrant to northern Europe.
Did you know?
- Its call “hoo-eet” differs clearly from the Eastern Bonelli's Warbler's hard “chup”.
- It is named after the Italian ornithologist Franco Andrea Bonelli.
Voice
About the species
Identification
A small leaf warbler the size of a Chiffchaff: greenish-grey above and white below. The rump is usually yellowish-green and stands out from the greyer back, and the wing panel is yellowish-green. The face is plain, with a pale eye. It closely resembles Eastern Bonelli's Warbler; the features are subtle, but the yellowish-green rump and the call – a disyllabic “hoo-eet” – help separate them.
Family
Sylviidae
Size
Tiny (goldcrest)
Colours
brown, white, yellow, green, grey
About the habitat
Dry, open broadleaf and mixed woodland, often oak or pine on sunny slopes, clearings and edges; in winter wooded savanna and scrub.
Diet
Mainly small insects and spiders, including caterpillars, gleaned from leaves and twigs.
Behaviour
An active, agile forager that moves quickly through the canopy. Males sing a fast, dry trill. It nests on the ground, building a domed nest hidden in low vegetation, and its eggs are sometimes parasitised by cuckoos. A long-distance migrant.
Sources
Photo: Kookaburra 81, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Phylloscopus bonelli 2.jpg
Sound: Benoît Van Hecke, XC543695, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/543695
Sound: Benoît Van Hecke, XC796873, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/796873
Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Bonelli%27s_warbler
