Icterine Warbler
Hippolais icterina
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Hippolais icterina
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Mass
~15 g
Habitat
Woodlands and parks
Diet
Insects and invertebrates
How to recognize it
The Icterine Warbler is a plain-looking but lively leaf-searching warbler with a large head, long wings, and a short tail. Its overall look is soft greenish-yellow, more olive above.
What stands out most is the voice and the way it moves. The song is a fast stream of imitated sounds, and the usual call is sharp and metallic; when singing, it often throws its head back.
It uses open woodland, edges, parks, gardens, orchards, and hedges with trees and some shrub layer. It feeds mainly on insects picked from foliage, then adds fruit in late summer, and it winters in sub-Saharan Africa.
Did you know?
Top mimics of central Russia
In central Russia the Icterine Warbler ranks among the strongest avian mimics, alongside Marsh and Garden Warblers, Red-backed Shrike and Starling.
Jaundice cure
Pliny claimed in his Natural History that a single glimpse of an Icterine Warbler was enough to cure a person of jaundice. The bird's name traces to the Greek ikteros, meaning either a greenish-yellow bird or the disease itself.
All winter south of the equator
The Icterine Warbler is one of only two Palaearctic passerines whose entire population winters south of the equator — the other is the Lesser Grey Shrike.
Quick Facts
Listen to the call
The Icterine Warbler is a plain-looking but lively leaf-searching warbler with a large head, long wings, and a short tail. Its overall look is soft greenish-yellow, more olive above.
What stands out most is the voice and the way it moves. The song is a fast stream of imitated sounds, and the usual call is sharp and metallic; when singing, it often throws its head back.
It uses open woodland, edges, parks, gardens, orchards, and hedges with trees and some shrub layer. It feeds mainly on insects picked from foliage, then adds fruit in late summer, and it winters in sub-Saharan Africa.
Did you know?
Top mimics of central Russia
In central Russia the Icterine Warbler ranks among the strongest avian mimics, alongside Marsh and Garden Warblers, Red-backed Shrike and Starling.
Jaundice cure
Pliny claimed in his Natural History that a single glimpse of an Icterine Warbler was enough to cure a person of jaundice. The bird's name traces to the Greek ikteros, meaning either a greenish-yellow bird or the disease itself.
All winter south of the equator
The Icterine Warbler is one of only two Palaearctic passerines whose entire population winters south of the equator — the other is the Lesser Grey Shrike.
How to recognize it
You might also see
Sources
- eBird — Hippolais icterina Sightings map and full description on eBird
- Wikipedia — Icterine warbler Encyclopedia article