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Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melanocephala) German name(s): "Samtkopfgrasmücke", "Samtkopf-Grasmücke" Size: 12-13 cm; wing span: 15-18 cm Body mass: 7-16 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: ca. 0.17

Europe: Family Group 21 Family Group 21 Table European Pied Flycatcher Collared Flycatcher Semicollared Flycatcher Spotted Flycatcher Red-breasted Flycatcher Lesser Whitethroat Common Whitethroat Western Orphean Warbler Western Subalpine Warbler Dartford Warbler Sardinian Warbler Barred Warbler Eurasian Blackcap Garden Warbler Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Sardinian Warblers are small insectivore birds. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Sardinian Warblers have a dark-grey to black head with a white to off-white chin and red eye-rings. The front is light-grey, while the back is grey, with some brown edge lining in the flight feathers. The tail is dark-grey. Females have duller colours, with more brownish hues on both front and back, a less prominent cap and duller eye-rings. Both sexes have brown irises, a straight, grey bill with a lighter-grey lower mandible and grey to pinkish-grey legs and feet. Juveniles resemble females, but with darker irises and slightly duller plumage.

Taxonomy, classification See Sardinian Warbler at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Sardinian Warbler is available HERE . There are 5 extant races of Sardinian Warblers, which are a partly migratory species. They are found mostly around the Mediterranean Sea, but their combined range also extends to the Balearic islands, along the north-western African coastline as far as Mauretania, into desert oases in Algeria and up the river Nile into central Egypt. There is also a large population in Asia Minor. Around the Mediterranean coastline they are sedentary, except along the eastern Adriatic coastline, where they only spend the summers. The Turkish population outside the coastal areas is migratory and they are found along the North coast only in summer. Birds in the southern (desert) parts of the range, such as the Sinai, up the river Nile and in oases in the Sahara desert are winter visitors. In Europe Sardinian Warblers are found permanently in most of Iberia (except the northern central part), all along the Mediterranean coastline (only as breeding migrants along the eastern Adriatic coastline), including the Mediterranean islands, and in most of Italy and southern Greece, with isolated breeding grounds along the western coastline of the Black Sea, in Bulgaria and Romania. In addition, there are also some reports of breeding migrants to southern England, southern Ireland, around the Baltic Sea and even from the southern tip of the Shetland islands. Sardinian Warblers have a preference for tall (often prickly) shrubs and open woodland with dense undergrowth.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "melanocephala" J. Pires reports finding Sardinian Warblers, nominate race "melanocephala", regularly in various parts of southern and central Portugal. Others were found at Vilarelhos, Alfandega da Fe, Tras-os-Montes, Norte, Portugal, in January 2023. M. Eaton reports spotting a Sardinian Warbler, nominate race "melanocephala", in Mequinenza, Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, in September 2019. G. Normand spotted a Sardinian Warbler, race "melanocephala", at Parc national de Calanque, near Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur, France, in January 2021. More photos shown below were taken by M. Eaton in their winter quarters in Egypt.

Photos

Race "melanocephala"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal view of a male Sardinian Warbler looking sideways - note the black cap (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira Vilarelhos, Alfandega da Fe, Braganca, Portugal, April 2024]

Near-frontal view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vilarelhos, Alfandega da Fe, Tras-os-Montes, Norte, Portugal, January 2023]

Near-frontal view of a male Sardinian Warbler looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2023]

Near-lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Ria Formosa, Loule, Faro, Algarve, Portugal, October 2025]

Near-lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2016]

Close-up lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia river, Santa Justa, Coruche, Portugal, February 2021]

Lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler with its tail cocked to vertical (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Divor river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2020]

Lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler issuing its call (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, Portugal, April 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[November 2017]

Dorsal view of a male Sardinian Warbler looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira Vilarelhos, Alfandega da Fe, Braganca, Portugal, April 2024]

Dorsal view of a male Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Divor river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2020]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Sardinian Warbler looking sideways - note the grey-brown cap (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vilarelhos, Alfandega da Fe, Tras-os-Montes, Norte, Portugal, January 2023]

Frontal view of a female Sardinian Warbler looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2014]

Near-frontal view of a female Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, July 2015]

Near-lateral view of a female Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vilarelhos, Alfandega da Fe, Tras-os-Montes, Norte, Portugal, January 2023]

Near-lateral view of a female Sardinian Warbler looking upwards (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia river, Santa Justa, Coruche, Portugal, January 2022]

Lateral view of a female Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, October 2018]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a female Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2014]

Dorsal/ventral view of a female Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2014]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Sardinian Warbler; note the grey head, dark iris, pale eye-ring and buff undertail coverts
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2014]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2014]

Frontal view of a fledgling Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2020]

Near-frontal view of a fledgling Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2020]

Lateral view of a fledgling Sardinian Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2020]

Breeding information

Breeding season: Apr - Jul

Eggs: 3 - 5

Incubation period: 12 - 15 days

Fledging age: 12 - 13 days

Nest building: Female

Incubation: Female & male

Dependent care: Female & male

Sardinian Warblers have a preference for nesting in low shrubs or brambles, also in gardens. They usually have 2 broods per season, with 1 or 3 brood/s also possible.

Nest

Type: Basket

Material: Twigs, grass stems

Height above ground: 0.3 - 1? m

Lateral view of a Sardinian Warbler chick that had fallen out of its nest and was put back to safety (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2014]

View from above into a Sardinian Warbler nest with four eggs in it (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2019]

Eggs

Size: 19 x 14 mm

Colour: Grey to pink-grey, with mid- to dark-brown speckles

Shape: Tapered oval

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Through most of their European range, Sardinian Warblers are sedentary. Only in some parts of south-eastern Europe they are short-distance migrants.

Female Sardinian Warbler, left, begging the male, right, for food? (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora Evora, Portugal, January 2016]

Food, Diet

Near-lateral view of a male Sardinian Warbler with its prey, a small insect (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Near-lateral view of a female Sardinian Warbler with its prey, a caterpillar (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2014]

Lateral view of a female Sardinian Warbler with its prey, a caterpillar (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, March 2014]

Lateral view of a female Sardinian Warbler swallowing its prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, January 2018]

Near-frontal view of a female Sardinian Warbler with pollen stuck to its forehead, which indicates that they may feed on nectar (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Lateral view of a female Sardinian Warbler with pollen stuck to its forehead (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2015]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

sardwrb_jp_20230327.m4a	melanocephala (Portugal)	Territorial calls?	© JP
sardwrb_jp_20180407.m4a	melanocephala (Portugal)	Territorial calls?	© JP
sardwrb_jp_20220906.m4a	melanocephala (Portugal)	Alarm call?	© JP
sardwrb_jp_20250213.m4a	melanocephala (Portugal)	Warning calls?	© JP
sardwrb_jp_20200117.m4a	melanocephala (Portugal)	Warning calls?	© JP
sardwrb_jp_20201103.m4a	melanocephala (Portugal)	Warning calls?	© JP
sardwrb_jp_20190601.m4a	melanocephala (Portugal)	Distress calls (chick fallen from nest)	© JP

More Sardinian Warbler sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

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.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.