Willow warbler

Willow warbler
Song
Call
Song, Recorded Gloucestershire, England
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Phylloscopidae
Genus: Phylloscopus
Species:
P. trochilus
Binomial name
Phylloscopus trochilus
Subspecies
  • P. t. trochilus (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • P. t. acredula (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • P. t. yakutensis (Ticehurst, 1935)
Yellow: Breeding (summer only)
Blue: Non-breeding winter visitor
Cross-hatched: migration.
Synonyms
  • Motacilla trochilus Linnaeus, 1758

The willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) is a very common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic, from Ireland east to the Anadyr River basin in eastern Siberia. It is strongly migratory, with almost all of the population wintering in sub-Saharan Africa.[2][3]

It is a bird of open woodlands with trees and ground cover for nesting, including most importantly birch, alder, and willow habitats. The nest is usually built in close contact with the ground, often in low vegetation. Like most Old World warblers (Sylviidae), this small passerine is insectivorous.[3] In northern Europe, it is one of the first warblers to return in the spring, though later than the closely related chiffchaff.[3] In spite of its small size, the willow warbler performs one of the longest migrations of any animal.[2][4]

  1. ^ BirdLife International. (2016). "Phylloscopus trochilus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T22715240A87636348. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22715240A87636348.en. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b Hoyo, J. del; et al., eds. (2006). Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 11. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 649. ISBN 84-87334-22-9.
  3. ^ a b c Baker, Kevin (1997). Warblers of Europe, Asia and North Africa (Helm Identification Guides). Christopher Helm. pp. 256–259. ISBN 0-7136-3971-7.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Snow was invoked but never defined (see the help page).