Spectacled Warbler - BirdForum Opus

Adult male, Subspecies conspicillata
Photo by Kevin Wade
Loja Granada, Spain, May 2017

Curruca conspicillata

Sylvia conspicillata

Identification

12cm (4¾ in)

• Brown upperparts
• Buff underparts
• Chestnut wing patches
• White throat
  
• Orangish legs

Adult male: grey head with black lores and white eye ring

Female, Subspecies conspicillata
Photo by Kevin Wade
Loja Granada, Spain, May 2017

Distribution

Europe, Africa and the Middle East
Europe: France, Corsica, Portugal, Madeira, Spain, Ibiza, Mallorca, Canary Islands, Gran Canaria, Gomera, Tenerife, Extremadura, Gibraltar, Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Yugoslavia, Albania, Crete, Malta
Northern Africa: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt
Western Africa: Mauritania, Senegambia, Senegal, Niger
African Islands: Cape Verde
Middle East: Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Arabian Peninsula, Iraq

Taxonomy

This is a polytypic species^[1] consisting of 2 subspecies.

Subspecies

• C. c. orbitalis:

• Madeira, Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands

• C. c. conspicillata:

• Breeds southwestern Europe (Portugal and Spain east to Italy and Sicily) and northwestern Africa (south to Mauritania), also Cyprus, southern Turkey, and the Levant (southern Lebanon, southern Syria, western Jordan, Israel, and the northern Sinai); winters to Senegal and Niger

Two additional subspecies, extratipica and bella are generally considered invalid^[2].

Habitat

Desert and coastal scrub, open grassy country with scattered trees, gardens.

Behaviour

Breeding

The nest is hidden in a bush. The clutch consists of 3-6 eggs.

Diet

The diet includes insects.

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. Avibase
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Spectacled Warbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 11 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Spectacled_Warbler

External Links

Search for photos of Spectacled Warbler in the gallery

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1