Warbler Facts

The willow warbler is only 11 cm long, but flies all the way from northern Europe and Siberia to Africa to spend the winter – a distance of some 12,000 km.
The rarely seen grasshopper warbler has an extraordinary whirring song and can ‘throw its voice’ like a ventriloquist.
The warbler family has more than 380 species. Most live in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australasia, but there are a few species in North and South America.
Most warblers are 9-16 cm long, but the two largest – the South African grassbird and the Australian songlarks – are up to 23 cm long.
The Aldabra warbler, which was discovered in 1967, lives only on a small part of Aldabra Island in the Indian Ocean. It has not been seen since 1983, so may well be extinct.
Insects are the main food of most warblers, but they also eat some fruits, berries and seeds.
The marsh warbler can mimic about 80 other species.
Chiffchaffs and willow warblers look almost exactly alike, but their songs are quite different.
The blackcap lays 4-6 eggs in a neat, cup-shaped nest. Both parents incubate them for 10-15 days.
The tailorbird makes a cradle like nest from two leaves which it sews together with plant fibers or spiders’ webs.
At 19 cm long, the great reed warbler is larger than most other European warblers.

This entry is filed under Interesting Facts.