- Sylvia undata
Identification
13cm
Male
- Rufous below
- Grey back
- Grey head
- Red throat with white spots
- Red iris
- Long tail
Female
- Paler underparts
- More of a brown grey below
Distribution
Breeds in southern England, the Channel Islands and southernmost Wales, in western France and on the Mediterranean coast and throughout Iberia. Also breeds on Menorca, on Corsica and Sardinia, southern Italy and north-east Sicily and in coastal North Africa, mainly Morocco and Algeria; possibly also Tunisia.
Britain lies on the northern edge of this species' range and it occurs mainly in southern England with the bulk of the population found from Devon to Sussex and Surrey with small numbers in Cornwall and on the Isle of Wight. With global warming, the species has increased and spread north in recent decades, and now breeds in coastal heaths in south Wales, Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk; extralimital breeding has also occurred in north Wales and Staffordshire.[2]
Vagrants have been recorded in Ireland, Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden, and east to Greece and the former Yugoslavia, and also in Libya.
Mainly resident, but some birds, mainly juveniles, wander in winter and range expands in the south of range, especially on Balearics, Malta, Sicily, and in North Africa.
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 3 subspecies[1]
- S. u. dartfordiensis: has a dark brown mantle
- S. u. undata: has a slate-grey mantle
- S. u. toni: the palest race, is greyish-brown above and paler and duller below
Habitat
In north of range found on open heathland with abundant gorse (Ulex sp.) and heather (Calluna vulgaris) to provide cover, further south in dense thorny scrub and maquis, sometimes in open pinewoods. In Spain it is mainly present in areas with low scrub (no taller than 1 metre) without trees (or with only few). Slopes with Gum Cistus (Cistus ladanifer) are a favourite.
Behaviour
Diet
The diet includes insects and spiders, and rarely berries.
Breeding
It nests in low vegetation. The clutch consists of 3-6 eggs.
Vocalisation
Song: a scratchy rattling warble. Call has been described as a sort of lowish buzz "ddzzz".
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, B.L. Sullivan, C. L. Wood, and D. Roberson. 2013. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.8., with updates to August 2013. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Bird Atlas 2007-11. BTO.
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Dartford Warbler. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Dartford_Warbler
