Innholdsfortegnelse for Warblers i Bird ID Photo Guides

Basic Principles In early August our reedbeds are still full of Sedge Warblers, rapidly putting on weight prior to their departure to Africa. At the same time, the species’ rare eastern European cousin, Aquatic Warbler, is embarking on its own migration, a journey which brings very small numbers to our shores each autumn. August therefore enables us to take a last look at our native Sedge Warblers, while also providing the only opportunity of the year to enjoy an Aquatic Warbler – if you are lucky enough to encounter one. The latter species is becoming increasingly rare, so a definitive identification requires particular care. Sedge Warbler This is a common and familiar breeding species across most of Britain. It also has a large range, occurring right across the northern part…

Basic Principles The species pair of Willow Warbler and Common Chiffchaff is one of the classic identification problems. While many individuals are straightforward to separate with practice, the occasional bird can still perplex even the most experienced birder. And nowadays there is another challenge: Iberian Chiffchaff. Only recently recognised as a full species, it is being found annually in Britain. It combines the appearance of both Willow Warbler and Common Chiffchaff; indeed so similar is it to its siblings that at present acceptance relies on its distinctive song or call. Common Chiffchaff This is a very common species across a very large breeding range which extends from Ireland in the west to Siberia in the east. There are a number of subspecies, but those of most relevance are the nominate…

Basic Principles There can be few more eagerly awaited October birds than the wing-barred Phylloscopus or leaf warblers. Three species – Yellow-browed, Hume’s Leaf and Pallas’s Warblers – are among the most delightful birds on the British list: tiny, hyperactive and jewel-like. They are not the only options, however. The much rarer Eastern Crowned and Pale-legged Leaf Warblers, both recent additions to the British list, are also possible in October. Yellow-browed Warbler This species has a large and northerly breeding range across Siberia, reaching as far west as the northern Urals. It winters throughout southern China and South-East Asia. There were relatively few British records until the 1960s. Since then, however, there has been a massive increase in occurrences, with many hundreds reported in most years and multiple arrivals now…

Basic Principles ‘Subalpine Warbler’ is a delightful small warbler of the Mediterranean region, where it typically favours scrub interspersed with taller bushes on dry slopes. It is a summer migrant, returning in March and April from its winter quarters in Africa. It has traditionally been treated as a single species, although significant variation in plumage and calls across its range has long been recognised and multiple subspecies have been described. In recent years, these subspecies have come under increasing scrutiny and, assisted by evidence from genetic analysis, their true distinctiveness has been fully revealed. ‘Subalpine Warbler’ was split by the British Ornithologists’ Union’s Records Committed (BOURC) in 2014 into two species: Subalpine Warbler (with four subspecies) and Moltoni’s Warbler (monotypic). Within the former, two western subspecies were generally grouped together…

Basic Principles Of all the warblers, three unstreaked Acrocephalus species – Reed, Marsh and Blyth’s Reed – are the most notorious, seemingly specially designed to confound the birder. They are relatively uniform and featureless in appearance, their plumage hues are ever changing with the light and they are notoriously skulking and difficult to observe. Furthermore, only Reed Warbler is common, so the chances to gain British experience of the other two species are few and far between. No wonder, then, that an encounter with one of these birds can make the heart sink. Reed Warbler This is a common breeding bird of reedbeds throughout England and Wales – and indeed throughout most of Europe apart from the north – where singing birds are easy to find. The species is also…

Basic Principles A mong the many highlights of October are the rarer Phylloscopus warblers. Although the multi-striped Yellow-browed and Pallas’s Warblers invariably steal the limelight, this is also the time to search for their drabber – though still very desirable – Siberian congeners: Radde’s and Dusky Warblers. Among the more regular Common Chiffchaffs, that subtle subspecies known as Siberian Chiffchaff is also something to look out for. Radde’s Warbler This species breeds across southern Siberia and the Russian Far East and winters in South-East Asia. Though first recorded in Britain at North Cotes, Lincs, in 1898, there were no further records until the 1960s. Since then it has become an expected autumn visitor and today is recognised as a regular rarity, occurring in some numbers in some years; it was…

Basic Principles Streaked Locustella warblers in autumn can be the stuff of nightmares. Near-impossible to flush, whirring away low and fast and then disappearing, never to be seen again, they give a whole new meaning to the word ‘elusive’. Their plumage is sombre and complex, and the identification features are small and subtle, so that even if there is time to raise your binoculars and ‘lock on’ to one, your chances of nailing an identification are not high. Truly, these birds can reduce grown men to tears! Nevertheless, two species of these confounding warblers are among the most highly sought after of all autumn migrants. They can also be the stuff of dreams. The combination of maddening behaviour and potential rarity means that every encounter with the two is a…

Basic Principles There is a select suite of species on the radar of every birder in autumn – regular enough to offer a realistic chance of discovery (weather and location permitting), yet statistically scarce and consequently always a welcome find. Near the top of this migrant hit-list are Icterine and Melodious Warblers, a species pair that breeds on the Continent and occurs in Britain and Ireland in autumn and, to a much lesser extent, spring. Known colloquially as ‘Hippos’, Icterine and Melodious Warblers form the western species pair in the genus Hippolais (the ‘tree warblers’). This genus is now half its former size, with Booted, Sykes’s and Eastern and Western Olivaceous Warblers recently hived off into a separate genus, Iduna, along with three African species. The eastern duo of Olive-tree…

Basic Principles There can be few more eagerly awaited autumn migrants than the small wing-barred Phylloscopus warblers. Three species in particular – Pallas’s, Yellow-browed and Hume’s Leaf Warblers – are among the most delightful birds on the British list, being tiny, hyperactve and jewel-like. An encounter with any of them is guaranteed to brighten up even the dullest autumn day. Not only are they beautiful but they also grip our imagination. They are from distant and remote parts of Asia, and each one which reaches Britain has performed a remarkable and somewhat mysterious feat of migration. We still have much to learn about why they arrive here and what happens to them beyond their fleeting presence around our coasts. All three species favour, where possible, those places where late insects…

Basic Principles Locustella warblers are among the most secretive and hence most enigmatic birds of all. In spring most of us will come across a Grasshopper Warbler, if only by sound, but there are two other vagrant possibilities to bear in mind: Savi’s and River Warblers. Both are very rare, but have the potential to turn up almost anywhere with suitable habitat. Grasshopper Warbler This species has a large Palearctic breeding range stretching from Ireland in the west to Mongolia in the east. The nominate subspecies breeds in western and central Europe and western Russia, and winters in west sub-Saharan Africa. Two or perhaps three other forms breed from the Caucasus across Asia, and some of them winter in the Indian subcontinent. Grasshopper Warbler is exclusively a summer visitor to…