Alternative names: Rüppell's Warbler
- Sylvia rueppelli
Identification
A typical warbler of the genus Sylvia.
These are small typical warblers. The adults have a plain grey back and paler grey underparts. The bill is fine and pointed and the legs brown. The male has a black head and, usually, a black throat, separated by a white malar streak ("moustache"). The eye is red. Females have a pale throat, and the head is grey rather than black. Their grey back has a brownish tinge. The female's spotted breast recalls Cyprus Warbler.
Similar Species
Slimmer than the similar Sardinian Warbler, and the song is slower and deeper.
Distribution
It breeds (April to September) in southern Greece, western Turkey and neighbouring islands. One noted site is on the coast road between Petra and Molivos on the Greek island of Lesvos. It is migratory, wintering in north east Africa. This is a rare vagrant to western Europe.
Taxonomy
Together with the Cyprus Warbler it forms a superspecies with dark throats, white malar streaks and light remiges fringes. This in turn is related to the species of Mediterranean and Middle East Sylvia warblers that have a naked eye-ring, namely the Subalpine Warbler, Sardinian Warbler and Menetries' Warbler. Both groups have a white malar area, but this may not form a clear streak in the latter group; above the white, the heads of males are uniformly dark.1
Habitat
Thick thorny shrubs.
Behaviour
Breeding: 4-6 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush.
Diet: Like most "warblers", this species is insectivorous.
Voice: Slower, deeper rattle than the Sardinian Warbler.
References
- Helbig 2001, Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006
