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Garden Warbler

Sylvia borin

Not yet photographed by the community

Plainest warbler but with rich, bubbling song.

Species Profile

Amber List (due to population decline in recent decades)

Lifespan: 5–8 years in the wild
Size & Weight: 14–15 cm, wingspan 20–24 cm; 14–20 g
Habitat: Deciduous and mixed woodland, scrub, and mature gardens with dense vegetation and bramble thickets.
UK Distribution: Summer breeding visitor across most of the UK, April to September; absent in winter, migrating to sub-Saharan Africa.
Diet: Primarily insects including flies, midges, and small beetles in breeding season; supplements with soft fruits and berries, particularly in late summer.
Prey: Small insects such as flies, midges, and beetles; Not applicable as primary diet is invertebrates.
Predators: Sparrowhawks, Eurasian Jays, Magpies, and corvids; nest predation by corvids and small mammalian predators.
Mating Season: April to July
Breeding: Typically 4–5 eggs per clutch, incubation period 11–12 days, fledging at 9–11 days; usually one brood per season, occasionally two.
Behaviour: Highly vocal during breeding season with a rich, varied song often confused with Blackcap. Males are territorial and sing frequently from dense cover. Highly migratory and faithful to breeding territories year after year.

Did You Know?

•The Garden Warbler is nearly impossible to distinguish from a Blackcap in the field without hearing its song.
•It undertakes a remarkable annual migration of over 10,000 km to and from sub-Saharan Africa.
•Unlike the Blackcap, the Garden Warbler's song is a continuous, rambling warble rather than flute-like whistles.
•Males arrive at breeding grounds up to two weeks before females, establishing territories before their mates return.
•The species has shown a concerning population decline of over 50% in the UK since the 1990s.

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