Radde's warbler (''Phylloscopus schwarzi'') is a leaf warbler which breeds in

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

. This warbler is strongly migratory and winters in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

. The genus name ''Phylloscopus'' is from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

''phullon'', "leaf", and ''skopos'', "seeker" (from ''skopeo'', "to watch"). The specific ''schwarzi'' commemorates German astronomer

Ludwig Schwarz Ludwig Schwarz, S.D.B. (born 4 June 1940) was the Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Linz, Austria from 2005 - 2015. Life Ludwig Schwarz was the first of nine children and grew up in Most pri Bratislave. After the expulsion of his family fr ...

(1822–1894).

Description

This is a warbler similar in size to a

willow warbler 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 strongl ...

. The adult has an unstreaked brown back and buff underparts. There is a very long prominent whitish supercilium, and the pointed bill is thicker than that of the similar dusky warbler. The legs are paler than dusky's, and the feet look large, reflecting the more terrestrial lifestyle of this warbler. The sexes are identical, as with most warblers, but young birds are yellower below. The call is a soft ''chick''.

Distribution and habitat

Radde's warbler breeds in southern parts of Central and Eastern Siberia as far east as Korea and Manchuria. It is a migratory species and spends the winter in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. In its breeding range, Radde's warbler is found in open deciduous woodlands with some undergrowth and bushy woodland margins, often near water. In its winter quarters it occupies the fringes of forests, thick scrub and bushy places near woodland. Like most

Old World warbler The Old World warblers are a large group of birds formerly grouped together in the bird family Sylviidae. They are not closely related to the New World warblers. The family held over 400 species in over 70 genera, and were the source of much taxo ...

s, this small

passerine A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin 'sparrow' and '-shaped') which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their ...

bird is

insectivorous A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores we ...

Breeding

The nest is built low in a bush and about five eggs are laid. They have a greyish background colour mottled and streaked with fine markings of brownish-olive, scattered evenly over the surface and which nearly obscures the base colour. They are approximately . This small warbler is prone to vagrancy as far as western

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in October, despite a 3000 km distance from its breeding grounds. It has been recorded from the Copeland Bird Observatory in

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

where it was first recorded for Northern Ireland in 2008.Leonard, K. 2008 Annual Report for 2008. Copeland Bird Observatory p.51 – 52 It has also occurred as an accidental in Heligoland.

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q809446 Radde's warbler Birds of North Asia Birds of Manchuria Wintering birds of Indochina Radde's warbler Radde's warbler