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Melodious Warbler (Hippolais polyglotta) German name(s): "Orpheusspötter" Size: 12-14 cm; wing span: 18-20 cm Body mass: 8-14 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.09-0.16/0.18-0.23 (lean/fat)

Europe: Family Group 26 Family Group 26 Table Crested Lark Thekla's Lark Zitting Cisticola Great Reed Warbler Eurasian Reed Warbler Sedge Warbler Marsh Warbler Savi's Warbler Icterine Warbler Melodious Warbler Cetti's Warbler Moustached Warbler Redwing Fieldfare Mistle Thrush Song Thrush Ring Ouzel Common Blackbird Common Starling Spotless Starling Rosy Starling Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Melodious Warblers are small tree warblers. The entire front is yellowish, with a buff-brown hue, with lores, supercilia and eye-rings of the same colour. The rest of the head and the back are greyish-olive. The dark-grey flight feathers have only minimal olive-grey edge lining. The irises are dark-brown; the bill has an orange to horn-coloured lower mandible and a grey upper mandible. Legs and feet are pinkish-grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Melodious 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 Melodious Warbler is available HERE . The Melodious Warbler is a migratory species. Their wintering grounds are in western sub-Saharan Africa, in an area spanning from Mauretania in the West to the Chad in the East. They breed in (near-)coastal North-west Africa and in southern, south-western to southern central Europe. In Europe Melodious Warblers are summer breeding migrants. They are found primarily in Iberia and in much of France, and also on the Balearic Islands, Sardinia, Corsica and in much of Italy, except the southern-most part, and along the eastern Adriatic coastline. There are also occasional reports from the Benelux countries, far western Germany and southern England. Farther to the North and East they are vagrants. Melodious Warblers have a preference for breeding in dense forest, woodland or small stands of remnant woodland/forest, often with shrubs, and also in densely vegetated gardens.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports spotting Melodious Warblers semi-regularly in the area from Mora, Evora, to Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal. G. Normand found a Melodious Warbler near Melun, 30 km South of Paris, France, in July 2020.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Frontal view of a pair of Melodious Warblers, one of which has caught an insect (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2018]

Frontal view of a Melodious Warbler looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Santa Justa, Coruche, Portugal, May 2022]

Near-frontal view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Santa Justa, Coruche, Portugal, May 2022]

Near-frontal view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, August 2022]

Near-lateral view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2015]

Near-lateral view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2022]

Lateral view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of G. Normand)
[Near Melun, 30 km South of Paris, France, July 2020]

Lateral view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2015]

Lateral view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2018]

Lateral view of a Melodious Warbler calling from a prominent perch (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, April 2017]

Lateral view of a Melodious Warbler looking away from the observer (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Santa Justa, Coruche, Portugal, August 2022]

Lateral/ventral view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, August 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Santa Justa, Coruche, Portugal, August 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2022]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, August 2019]

Dorsal view of a Melodious Warbler looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, May 2018]

Dorsal view of a Melodious Warbler (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2022]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a juvenile Melodious Warbler, left, being fed (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2022]

Lateral view of a juvenile Melodious Warbler, upper left, begging for food (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2022]

Lateral view of a juvenile Melodious Warbler, upper left, with an adult (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2022]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Near-frontal view of a Melodious Warbler with its catch, a flying insect (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

Near-frontal view of a Melodious Warbler with its catch, a flying insect (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, June 2019]

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.

melwarb_jp_20230513.m4a	(Portugal)	Territorial song?	© JP
melwarb_jp_20230513_2.m4a	(Portugal)	Territorial song?	© JP
melwarb_jp_20180505.m4a	(Portugal)	Territorial song?	© JP
melwarb_jp_20190608.m4a	(Portugal)	Territorial song?	© JP
melwarb_jp_20220520.m4a	(Portugal)	Territorial song?	© JP
melwarb_jp_20190614.m4a	(Portugal)	Warning call(?)	© JP
melwarb_jp_20190614_2.m4a	(Portugal)	Warning call(?)	© JP
melwarb_jp_20240713.m4a	(Portugal)	Warning calls(?)	© JP

More Melodious 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.