Back to photostream

Wood Warbler

Here is another shot of the Wood Warbler I found this week. I managed to catch it briefly in the sunshine which shows off its primrose throat and silky white breast. Wood Warbler was separated from Willow Warbler by Gilbert White in 1768. In a letter to Thomas Pennant he described how by listening to their songs, he had found there are three species of Willow-Wren. He called Wood Warbler the Large Shivering Willow Wren. This perfectly describes the trilling song which culminates with the bird vigorously shivering its body. Here is a recording of the trilling song of this very bird by my friend David Pennington: xeno-canto.org/799672 Towards the end you also hear it give the very different teu-teu-teu-teu call. Its scientific name is Phylloscopus sibilatrix; Phylloscopus means leaf-gleaner, while sibilatrix is a whistler, from the song.

4,752 views
90 faves
39 comments
Uploaded on May 12, 2023
Taken on May 10, 2023