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Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler

Phylloscopus sibilatrix

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

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The Wood Warbler is a bright leaf warbler of mature broadleaf and mixed woodland, breeding across Europe to the Urals and western Siberia and wintering in tropical Africa. It is fresh green above and clean white below, with a lemon-yellow throat, breast and supercilium. It sings from the canopy with a distinctive, accelerating, shivering trill. It has declined in many parts of Europe.

Did you know?

  • Its trill has been likened to a spinning coin coming to rest.
  • Its species name sibilatrix means “whistler” in Latin.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

A leaf warbler slightly larger than Willow Warbler; the back is bright green and the underparts clean white, sharply demarcated from the yellow throat and breast. The sexes look alike. The yellow supercilium is broad and vivid, the wings long and the tail short. It is also identified by its bright, accelerating trill; the alarm call is a soft “dew”.

Family

Sylviidae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

green, yellow, white, brown

About the habitat

Mature deciduous or mixed woodland, especially beech, oak or birch, with an open understorey and a shady, mossy floor for nesting.

Diet

Mainly small invertebrates such as caterpillars, flies, aphids and spiders, gleaned from foliage or caught in short flights.

Behaviour

Active and agile in the canopy, flitting between leaves and making brief flights to catch insects. Males have two song types – an accelerating, shivering trill and a series of descending piping notes – and sing in short display flights. It builds a domed nest on the ground, laying about six or seven eggs in May.

Sources

Photo: Steve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flickr - Rainbirder - Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix).jpg

Sound: Benoît Van Hecke, XC648843, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/648843

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC730602, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/730602

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

See also