Bird Guide

Garden Warbler

Sylvia borin

Least ConcernInvertebratesWoodlandCup nestSmall · 18 g

About the Garden Warbler

The garden warbler is a common and widespread small bird that breeds in most of Europe and in the Palearctic to western Siberia. It is a plain, long-winged and long-tailed warbler with brown upperparts and dull white underparts; the sexes are similar and juveniles resemble the adults. Its two subspecies differ only slightly and interbreed where their ranges overlap. Due to its lack of distinguishing features, this species can be confused with a number of other unstreaked warblers. The garden warbler's rich melodic song is similar to that of the blackcap, its closest relative, which competes with it for territory when nesting in the same woodland.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

ID tip

The garden warbler is 14 cm (5.5 in) long with a 7.6–8.4 cm (3.0–3.3 in) wing length. The weight is typically 16–22 g (0.56–0.78 oz), but can be up to 35.5 g (1.25 oz) for birds preparing to migrate. It is a plain, long-winged and long-tailed bird with unstreaked olive-brown upperparts and dull white underparts. It has a whitish eyering and a faint pale supercilium, and there is a buff wash to the throat and flanks. The eye is black, the legs are bluish-grey and the strong bill has a grey upper and paler grey lower mandible. Voice: The male's song, usually delivered by birds in dense cover, is a rich musical warbling usually delivered in bursts of a few seconds duration, but sometimes for longer periods. The song is confusable with that of the blackcap, although compared to that species it is slightly lower-pitched, less broken into discrete song segments and more mellow.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

What the Garden Warbler sounds like

Recording: Philippe_Grange · CC0 · via xeno-canto
Recording: Noé Ferrari · CC BY 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Recording: Noé Ferrari · CC BY 4.0 · via xeno-canto

Where the Garden Warbler lives

Regular rangeRare visitor

Recorded as a rare visitor in India, Eritrea, Guinea-Bissau, Kosovo, Congo - Brazzaville, Mali.

When to see the Garden Warbler

Peak activity in May · a summer visitor species across most of its range

Easily confused with

Side by side: Eurasian Blackcap vs Garden Warbler

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