Page 332 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WARBLERS AND ALLIES
Order Passeriformes Family Sylviidae Species Cettia cetti
Cetti’s Warbler slightly peaked narrow
pale stripe
head
over eye
grey face
short, round,
rusty brown
wings dark reddish brown
upperparts
short,
sharp bill
round
tail
pale grey
underside
IN FLIGHT

rusty brown
under tail
with pale bars
broad dark
red-brown
mall, dark, and hard to see, Cetti’s Warbler tail
Sis easy to detect because of its frequent, loud,
abrupt outbursts of song.The same basic phrase is
repeated every few minutes but the bird often moves
on as soon as it sings, so the next outburst usually FLIGHT: short, fast dashes between thickets; bursts
comes from a long way up the ditch, riverside, or marsh, of quick wingbeats; tail fanned.
always one step ahead.A resident, it KEEPING LOW
has spread north, subject to the This warbler is usually seen low
vagaries of winter weather, hard down in dense thickets: it rarely
weather causing occasional widespread moves high into a bush or tree.
setbacks for several years.
VOICE Explosive, metallic chich or plit;
song highly distinctive, sudden loud
outburst of full-throated, shouted
notes: chee! chewee!
chewechewechwewewe!
NESTING Deep cup of grass and
leaves in dense vegetation; 3–5 eggs;
1 or 2 broods;April–June.
FEEDING Forages in dense cover, on
or near ground, for insects, spiders, OCCURRENCE
snails, and some seeds. Breeds in S Europe in
Mediterranean area, Spain,
SIMILAR SPECIES Portugal, France, north to Low
Countries, and sparsely in S Great
NIGHTINGALE plainer paler bolder stripe Britain where hard weather causes
see p.296 face over eye periodic reductions. In damp
redder tail areas, beside rivers, ditches,
longer paler,
tail more reedbeds, wet thickets, and often,
tawny but by no means always, near
larger extensive marshes.
longer
REED WARBER bill SEDGE WARBLER Seen in the UK
see p.324 see p.322 J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 14cm (5 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 15–19cm (6–7 1 ⁄2in) Weight 12–18g ( 7 ⁄16 – 5 ⁄8oz)
Social Solitary Lifespan Up to 5 years Status Secure
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