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Western Subalpine Warbler
Curruca iberiae
Identify the Western Subalpine Warbler by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The Western Subalpine Warbler is a small warbler of dry Mediterranean scrub in Iberia, southern France, north-western Italy and north-west Africa, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. Males are grey above with brick-red underparts and crisp white moustaches, while females are browner and paler below. Its song is a fast, rattling chatter. It was split from the Eastern Subalpine Warbler in 2020.
Did you know?
- In 2020 the IOC split the Subalpine Warbler into Western and Eastern species.
- Males often build several “cock nests” before the pair builds the final breeding nest.
Voice
About the species
Identification
The male has a blue-grey head and upperparts, a white moustachial stripe and brick-orange throat and breast, with the colour paler on the belly and flanks than in the Eastern Subalpine Warbler. The female is brownish grey above and pale buff below. Separating the western and eastern species requires close views and attention to calls.
Family
Sylviidae
Size
Tiny (goldcrest)
Colours
grey, orange, white, brown
About the habitat
Dry, open Mediterranean country with tall, dense maquis, holm oak and strawberry trees, young cork oak stands, bramble thickets in sunny ravines and scrub regenerating after fires.
Diet
Mainly small insects and their larvae; outside the breeding season also berries and other fruit.
Behaviour
A long-distance migrant that forages quickly through dense shrubs and often keeps to cover. During the breeding season, from late March to late June, monogamous pairs nest low in scrub, and the male sings a brisk, rattling song, often in short song flights.
Sources
Photo: Francesco Veronesi from Italy, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Subalpine Warbler - Monfrague - Spain 2669 (19110069408).jpg
Sound: Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, XC471094, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/471094
Sound: Joost van Bruggen, XC432212, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/432212
Text: Wikipedia (English), CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_subalpine_warbler
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