Identification
It is one of the larger species of warblers and has a generally greyish appearance: grey above and whitish below, with a brownish tinge on the ribs and dark spots on the wings below the tail. It has a very distinctive "hood" on its head that is black in the adult male and grey in the female with a black tint only around the ears. The colour of the iris of the eye in adult individuals is white, while the beak (which looks relatively heavy for a warbler) and legs are dark grey or crimson to black.
Distribution - Habitat
It is a summer visitor to our region as part of a discontinuous distribution spreading from the Andriatic coast, the Balkan Peninsula, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan and north to Kazakhstan. It winters in the eastern sub-Saharan region, parts of the southern Arabian Peninsula, west to India.
It is found from sea level (in Europe) to 2,000-3,000m in Asia, in dry/warm areas with tall shrubs or scattered shrubs and trees and in tall Mediterranean shrublands (up to 3m high) and in riparian vegetation (rivers and streams in dry landscapes).
Interesting Information
- Its name reveals its truly magnificent song that resembles that of the Nightingale (with a simpler structure). That is why it is called in English the "Orphean Warbler"; the poet and shepherd of our mythology.
- It feeds on arthropods (mainly insects) and outside the breeding season also on small fruits (blackberries etc.). It seeks its food among the leaves and in the crevices in the trunk of bushes/trees, so it is always hidden in the vegetation.
- It lays 3-6 eggs which are incubated by both parents for about 2 weeks. The chicks stay in the nest for another 5 to 6 days and when they leave the nest the whole family stays together for another 5 to 6 days, so that the hatchlings can be cared for a little longer before they become fully independent.
- In recent decades, there has been an expansion of its geographic range northwards, which is due to climate change, as it is a thermophilic (it likes heat!) species.
