Menetries's Warbler - BirdForum Opus

Male
Photo by RASHED
Kuwait, February 2009

Curruca mystacea

Sylvia mystacea

Identification

13 cm (5 in)

• Long blackish tail
• White outer tail feathers
• Heavy dark bill, pinkish patch at the base
• Pale bare eye ring
  

Male

• Dark grey upperparts
• White underparts
• White submoustachial stripe
• Pink throat and breast
• Dark cap
• Grey nape
  

Female

• Sandy grey-brown upperparts
• Buffish-white underparts

Female
Photo by kuwaity
National Park, Sabiya, Kuwait, April 2004

Distribution

Asia, winters in Africa
Africa: Egypt
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia
Middle East: Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia
Asia: Russia, Northern Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan

Taxonomy

This is a polytypic species^[1] consisting of 3 subspecies.

Subspecies

• C. m. mystacea:

• Transcaucasia and north-eastern Turkey to lower Volga; winters to northeastern Africa

• C. m. rubescens:

• Lebanon and southeastern Turkey to Iraq and southwestern Iran; winters to northeastern Africa

• C. m. turcmenica:

• Eastern Iran to northern Afghanistan and western Tajikistan; winters northeastern Africa

E Iran to n Afghanistan and w Tajikistan; winters ne Africa

Habitat

Scrub, thickets, open woodland, desert and gardens.

Behaviour

Flicks tail

Diet

Diet consists of arthropods, particularly insects and their eggs, invertebrates, berries, fruit and seeds.

Breeding

They build a cup-shaped nest of twigs, stems, grass and leaves with feathers and hair, which is placed in low vegetation. The 4-5 brown-spotted white eggs are incubated by both parents for 11 to 13 days. The young birds fledge after 10 or 11 days.

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Lepage D. (2022) [1]. Retrieved 3 October 2022
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Menetries's Warbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 29 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Menetries%27s_Warbler

External Links

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