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Barred Warbler (Sylvia nisoria) — photo 1 of 6
© Christoph Moning CC BY 4.0

Sylviid warblers · Perching birds

Barred Warbler

Sylvia nisoria

Summer visitor

Voice

Alarm

Jochem Verweij

0:09

Song

Jochem Verweij

0:23

Song

Jochem Verweij

2:00

How to recognize it

  • 18 cm, large warbler, about sparrow-sized

  • Grey-brown above, head a bit darker

  • Whitish below with strong barred or scaly brown markings

  • Keeps low in bushes; on the ground, moves awkwardly

About the species

The barred warbler often looks plain at a glance, with muted grey-brown tones and a long tail that it flicks as it moves through cover. It is the largest Curruca warbler, but its most noticeable habit is how it slips through bushes and tree branches rather than staying in the open.

It moves awkwardly on the ground and keeps to thicker growth when it can. Its song is a chattering mix of clear notes, sharper and less musical than a garden warbler’s, and its call can help carry it through scrub before it is seen.

Look for it in open country with bushes, low shrubs, brambles, and older hedges. It feeds mainly on insects, but also takes spiders, berries, and other soft fruit, especially late in the season. It breeds across temperate parts of central and eastern Europe and western and central Asia, and many populations move south to tropical eastern Africa for winter.

Where to find

  • Along overgrown vacant lots and railway embankments—especially where brambles and shrubs form a thick wall—Barred Warbler moves awkwardly on the ground but slips fast through the branches.

  • In mature park edges with dense undergrowth, its scratchy song usually comes from the top of a bush or low tree.

  • By ditch banks and canal fringes tangled with blackberry and rose, look for quick hops between stems in the early morning.

  • In late summer, low shrubs beside paths and fences can hold it while it feeds on berries and insects, staying deep in cover.

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Sources