Dartford warbler
Dartford warbler | |
---|---|
Male above, female below | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Sylviidae |
Genus: | Curruca |
Species: | C. undata
|
Binomial name | |
Curruca undata (Boddaert, 1783)
| |
Synonyms | |
|
The Dartford warbler (Curruca undata) is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is dull reddish-brown below except for the centre of the belly which has a dirty white patch. It has light speckles on the throat and a red eye-ring. The sexes are similar but the adult female is usually less grey above and paler below.
Its breeding range lies west of a line from southern England to the heel of Italy (southern Apulia). The Dartford warbler is usually resident all year in its breeding range, but there is some limited migration.
Taxonomy and systematics
The Dartford warbler was first described in 1776 by the Welsh naturalist,
This species probably forms a
Three subspecies are recognised:[13]
- C. u. dartfordiensis (Latham, 1787) – south England and north-west France[4]
- C. u. toni (Hartert, 1909) – north-west Africa[14]
- C. u. undata (Boddaert, 1783) – Iberian Peninsula and south France[5]
Description
The Dartford warbler is a small, 13 cm (5.1 in), passerine bird, distinguished by its long tail compared with that of other warblers. Its plumage comprises unobtrusive and muted tones, which blend in with the dry dead plants, old wood or sunny greyish wood found in its preferred habitats.
Like many typical warblers, the Dartford warbler has distinct male and female plumages. The male has a grey back and head, reddish underparts, and a red eye. The reddish throat is spotted with white. The sides are a dull greyish tone, being more clear about the abdomen. In some populations males have bluish-grey or brownish-grey backs and heads. The female is paler below, especially on the throat, and a browner grey above. The female's throat also has white spots, although they are smaller and less marked than in the male. Juvenile birds are similar to females.
Distribution and habitat
The species is naturally rare. The largest European populations of Curruca undata are in the Iberian peninsula, others in much of France, in Italy and southern England and south Wales. In Africa it can be found only in small areas in the north, wintering in northern Morocco and northern Algeria.
Behaviour and ecology
Breeding
Dartford warblers first breed when they are one year old. They are usually monogamous and the
Feeding
It inhabits open fields with degraded scrub brush and is common in heather. In winter it may visit urban areas, but always feeds within shrubs in these areas. It nests in bushes with thorns and near the ground. These warblers are mostly insectivorous, eating caterpillars, butterflies, beetles and spiders.
The song of the Dartford warbler is a distinctive rattling warble.
Status and conservation
Dartford warblers almost died out in the
However, this species can recover well in good quality habitat with favourable temperatures and rainfall, thanks to repeated nesting and a high survival rate for the young. Indeed, they recovered in some areas of the UK, but numbers are once again on the decline in other regions of their natural range.
The range of the Dartford warbler is restricted to western and southern Europe. The total population in 2012 was estimated at 1.1–2.5 million breeding pairs. The largest numbers occur in Spain where there were believed to be 983,000–1,750,000 pairs. For reasons that probably include loss of suitable habitat, the Spanish population appears to be declining. The species is therefore classed by the
A period of climatic warming since 1963 has seen the UK population increase to "more than 2,500 pairs in 2006 (Wotton et al. 2009). Expansion into patches of structurally suitable habitat (up to an altitude of 400m), more northerly areas and away from the core of the range, from Dorset and Hampshire to Derbyshire and Suffolk, is likely to have been facilitated by milder winter weather (Wotton et al. 2009, Bradbury et al. 2011). The Dartford warbler population in the UK is expected to continue to increase. However, future climate-based projections for the European range indicate that by 2080, more than 60% of the current European range may no longer be suitable (Huntley et al 2007). There is evidence that this is happening already, with severe declines in Spain and France (Green 2017). For this reason, the species is classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Global Red List. If the declines in southern Europe continue, the UK will become increasingly important for global conservation of this species".[23]
References
- ^ BirdLife International. "Curruca undata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
- ^ Pennant, Thomas (1776). British Zoology, Volume 1. Vol. 1 (4th ed.). Warrington, United Kingdom: Printed by William Eyres, for Benjamin White. p. 389.
- ^ Latham, John (1783). A General Synopsis of Birds, Volume 2. Vol. 2. London: Printed for Benj. White. p. 435.
- ^ a b Latham, John (1787). Supplement to the General Synopsis of Birds. London: Printed for Leigh & Sotheby. p. 287.
- ^ a b Boddaert, Pieter (1783). Table des planches enluminéez d'histoire naturelle de M. D'Aubenton : avec les denominations de M.M. de Buffon, Brisson, Edwards, Linnaeus et Latham, precedé d'une notice des principaux ouvrages zoologiques enluminés (in French). Utrecht. p. 40 Number 655.
- Daubenton, Edme-Louis (1765–1783). Planches enluminées d'histoire naturelle, Volume 7. Vol. 7. Plate 655, Le Pitte-chou, de provence.
- ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-list of Birds of the World, Volume 11. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Mass.: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 285–286.
- ^ Shirihai, Gargallo & Helbig 2001, pp. 24–29.
- S2CID 85317440.
- S2CID 85629890.
- S2CID 84546365.
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David (eds.). "Sylviid babblers, parrotbills & white-eyes". World Bird List Version 5.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
- ^ Hartert, Ernst (1910). Die Vögel der paläarktischen Fauna, Heft 1. Vol. 1. Berlin: R. Friedländer & Sohn. p. 602.
- ^ Shirihai, Gargallo & Helbig 2001, pp. 281–282.
- ^ .
- ^ ISBN 0-19-850188-9.
- ^ a b Bunyard, Percy F. (1914). "On the breeding habits of the Dartford Warbler" (PDF). British Birds. 7 (8): 214–219.
- ^ "Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata [Boddaert, 1783]". British Trust for Ornithology. 16 July 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ .
- ^ Bibby, Colin J.; ‘Dartford Warblers in England’; British Birds, 72 (1979); pp. 10–22
- . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
- ^ "The state of the UK's birds 2017" (PDF). Joint Nature Conservation Committee. pp. 30, 39. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
Sources
- BirdLife International (BLI) (2008): 2008 IUCN Redlist status changes. Retrieved 23 May 2008
- Shirihai, Hadoram; Gargallo, Gabriel; Helbig, Andreas J. (2001). Sylvia Warblers: Identification, taxonomy and phylogeny of the genus Sylvia. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 978-0-7136-3984-1.
External links
- Ageing and sexing (PDF; 3.1 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze Archived 2014-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
- Photos and videos from the Internet Bird Collection
- Dartford warbler photo gallery at VIREO (Drexel University)
- Interactive range map of Sylvia undata at IUCN Red List maps
- Vocalisations on Xeno-canto