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Wood Warbler
(Phylloscopus sibilatrix)
 German name(s): "Waldlaubsänger"
Size: 11-12.5 cm; wing span 19.5-24 cm
Weight: 6-15 g
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Wood Warblers are very small leaf warblers.
Overall, their plumage
is dominated by olive, grey and yellowish hues.
The front, from the chest down, is off-white to light-grey, while
the throat and the upper sides are sulphur-yellow to pale-yellow.
The crown, nape of the neck, back, rump and upperwing coverts are
olive-grey. The flight feathers are dark-grey with narrow olive
leading edges.
They have yellow supercilia, cheeks and ear coverts, with prominent
dark olive-grey eye stripes that end in a dark "hook" at the back
of the ear coverts.
Their wings have characteristic bright inner edge lining that other,
similar species lack and their primary projection is the longest of
all similar species.
The irises are dark. The bill has a grey upper mandible and a horn-coloured
lower mandible. The legs and feet are pale pinkish-grey.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Compared to Common
Chiffchaffs and Willow
Warblers, Wood Warblers have more sulphur-yellow on the chin
and the sides of the head and a longer primary wing projection
(see photo).
They also have off-white inner edges on the wing feathers that
the other species lack.
Direct comparison of primary projection of
Common Chiffchaff (top),
Willow Warbler (centre)
and Wood Warbler (bottom)
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Wood
Warbler at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The overall distribution of this species can be assessed based
on sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to the
ebird.org
website.
The global distribution of the Wood Warbler is available
HERE
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Wood Warblers are a strongly migratory species.
They breed in parts of Europe, to the southern Urals in the
far South-east of their range.
They all spend the northern winters in sub-Saharan tropical
Africa.
During their migration they can be found anywhere between
their breeding grounds and winter grounds, except most of
the Sahara desert, western
Iberia, parts of eastern Asia Minor and parts of the far
South-east of Europe, to the North of the Caspian Sea.
In Europe Wood Warblers are found only as breeding migrants.
Their range extends from most of France (except the far
southern Mediterranean fringe), the British Isles (but only
rarely Ireland) in the West to European Russia in the East.
They are found in the Appennin Mountains in Italy and parts
of the Balkans and basically anywhere to the North of the
Alps and of the Danube River, up to the near-coastal fringe
of southern to central Scandinavia, up to about the polar
circle.
Wood Warblers have a preference for mature, dense forest and
woodland, often with decidious trees, but also mixed with
conifers. Usually they prefer forest with little undergrowth.
Hence their distribution in Europe is limited to the densely
wooded regions within the range outlined above.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
D. Wilczynska reports spotting a Wood Warbler at
Biebrza National Park, Poland, in May 2017.
All sighting, photographic and audio information presented on
this page has kindly been contributed by D. Wilczynska.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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Frontal view of a Wood Warbler; note the "clean cheeks" distinguishing
this species from the
Willow Warbler (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza National Park, Poland, May 2017]
Frontal view of a Wood Warbler (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza National Park, Poland, May 2017]
Near-frontal view of a Wood Warbler (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza National Park, Poland, May 2017]
Near-frontal view of a Wood Warbler; this is the bird whose
calls
were recorded on 6 May 2017 (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza National Park, Poland, May 2017]
Near-lateral view of a Wood Warbler (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza National Park, Poland, May 2017]
Lateral view of a Wood Warbler (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza National Park, Poland, May 2017]
Near-dorsal view of a Wood Warbler; note the bright inner edges
on the wing feathers and the very long primary projection that
distinguish this species from the
Willow Warbler (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza National Park, Poland, May 2017]
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Call(s)/Song |
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For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The
interpretation of their meaning is our own; are welcome.
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
are welcome.