Bird Guide

River Warbler vs Savi's Warbler

River Warbler (Locustella fluviatilis)

River Warbler

Locustella fluviatilis

Small16 gWetland

This is a largish warbler. The adult has an unstreaked grey-brown back, whitish grey underparts, and a darker undertail, which has white feather tips giving a contrasting pattern. The sexes are identical, as with most warblers, but young birds are yellower below. Some birds can show reduced dark markings on the undertail coverts (caused by more extensive than usual white tips) and thus are closer in appearance to Savi's warbler than typical river warblers. However, they typically still have a streaked breast and more olive colouration on the upperparts.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the River Warbler
Recorded by Glenn Costello · Song · Borlänge, Borlänge Municipality, Dalarnas län, Sweden · CC BY 4.0
Photo: Михаил Малышев · CC BY 4.0
Savi's Warbler (Locustella luscinioides)

Savi's Warbler

Locustella luscinioides

Tiny14 gWetland

The upper-parts of Savi's warbler are a uniform dark reddish-brown, sometimes with a slight greenish tinge. It has indistinct buff eye-stripes, dark lores and pale brown ear-coverts. The brown beak is slender and the irises are also brown. The chin, throat and belly are whitish-buff and the rest of the underparts sandy brown. In the breeding season, both upper-parts and underparts are slightly paler. The legs are brown. The bird is around 14 cm (5.5 in) long. The song is a trill very similar to that of the grasshopper warbler but slightly lower pitched and less prolonged.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Savi's Warbler
Recorded by Sonothèque ADVL · Song · Marcey-les-Grèves, Manche, Normandie, France · CC0
Photo: Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom · CC BY 2.0

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: River Warbler and Savi's Warbler.