Barred Warbler
Curruca nisoria
Adults are unmistakable large warblers. Dark gray above with strong white wingbars, contrasting with pale, strongly barred breast. Pale tail corners prominent in flight. Juveniles are pale, with only hint of barring on the flanks and rump. Often sings its loud and melodic song from an exposed perch. Call is a rattling "arrr-at-at-at-at." Breeds in open habitats with tall bushes and scattered trees. Non-breeding habitat in Africa is similar: open woodlands and savannas.
Taxonomy
Within the genus Curruca it is highly distinctive; the barred underside is shared only with the Cyprus warbler, which has black barring and an entirely different overall colour pattern. The barred warbler seems to represent an ancient lineage of Curruca warblers on its own and does not appear to have any particularly close relatives in the genus.<p>Two subspecies are recognised. The nominate Curruca nisoria nisoria occurs over most of the species' range, while Curruca nisoria merzbacheri occurs at eastern end of the range in central Asia. The latter is marginally paler and less heavily barred than the nominate subspecies, but they are barely distinct and intergrade where the ranges meet. Some authors consider them synonymous.<p>The specific nisoria is Medieval Latin for the Eurasian sparrowhawk, which is also barred.
- Scientific name
- Curruca nisoria
- Authority
- (Bechstein, 1792)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Sylviidae
- Genus
- Curruca
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : c
- Non-breeding range
- e AF
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The barred warbler is a bird of open country with bushes for nesting, with very similar habitat preferences to the red-backed shrike. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and three to seven eggs are laid. Like most warblers, it is mainly insectivorous, but also takes berries and other soft fruit extensively in late summer and autumn. Its song is a pleasant chattering like a garden warbler with many clear notes, but is harsher and less melodious, and slightly higher pitched, with some resemblance to the common whitethroat's song.
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Spot-winged Pigeon
Patagioenas maculosa
Fairly common to locally common; found in a wide variety of semiopen habitats from town parks to scrubby Andean slopes. Large grayish pigeon with a distinct pale dappling (“spotting”) on wing coverts and grayish eyes. Birds in the Andes have a distinct white band on the wing that is striking in flight. In eastern lowlands compare with Picazuro Pigeon, which has amber eyes, a pink breast, and a white wing band.
Bougainville Thicketbird
Cincloramphus llaneae
A relatively thick-bodied, long-tailed warbler, prone to creeping like a mouse low in vegetation. Dark brown above. Chest and face paler orange-rusty with a dark eye-stripe. Belly darker than chest. Found in dense dark stands of bamboo, ferns, and forest undergrowth above 900 meters of elevation. Voice reported to be a two-noted whistled phrase, followed by a single higher-pitched note.
Spotted Woodcreeper
Xiphorhynchus erythropygius
Medium to large woodcreeper of humid evergreen and pine-evergreen forest in highlands and foothills. Feeds at all levels on trunks and larger branches, often at bromeliads. Straightish and rather stout bill is dark above and pale below. Note the pale buff spectacles and distinct pale spotting and scalloping on head, breast, and back (populations south of western Honduras lack spotting on back.)
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