Passeriformes / Phylloscopidae / Phylloscopus

Radde's Warbler

Phylloscopus schwarzi · 巨嘴柳莺

IUCN: Least Concern Found in China

Introduction

A leaf warbler that breeds in Siberia and is strongly migratory, wintering in Southeast Asia. It exhibits a terrestrial lifestyle with large feet and forages as an insectivore.

Description

Similar in size to a willow warbler. The adult has an unstreaked brown back and buff underparts. Features include a very long prominent whitish supercilium and a pointed bill that is thicker than that of the similar dusky warbler. Legs are paler than the dusky warbler's, and feet appear large. Sexes are identical; young birds are yellower below.

Identification

Distinguished by a very long prominent whitish supercilium and a thicker pointed bill compared to the dusky warbler. Legs are paler, and feet look larger due to a terrestrial lifestyle. The call is a soft chick.

Distribution & Habitat

Breeds in southern parts of Central and Eastern Siberia, extending east to Korea and Manchuria. Migrates to winter in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand. Breeding habitat includes open deciduous woodlands with undergrowth and bushy woodland margins, often near water. Winter habitat comprises forest fringes, thick scrub, and bushy places near woodland. Prone to vagrancy as far as western Europe in October, with records in Northern Ireland (first recorded 2008) and Heligoland.

Behavior & Ecology

Insectivorous. The nest is built low in a bush. Clutch size is about five eggs, which have a greyish background mottled and streaked with fine brownish-olive markings. Eggs measure approximately 17 by 13 millimetres.

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0