Spectacled warbler

Sylvia conspicillata

Photo by J. Sagardía (Birding in Lanzarote)

Common name:

spectacled warbler (en); toutinegra-tomilheira (pt); fauvette à lunettes (fr); curruca tomillera (es); brillengrasmücke (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Passeriformes

Family Sylviidae

Range:

This species is mostly found around the Mediterranean basin, from Portugal, Spain and Morocco in the west, through France, Italy and Libya, and into Cyprus, Syria, Israel, Jordan and Lebanon. They are also found in the Canaries and Cape Verde archipelagos.

Size:

The spectacled warbler is 12-13 cm long and has a wingspan of 16-18 cm. They weigh 8-10 g.

Habitat:

These birds are mostly found in dry scrubland, open terrain and sometimes also in salt marshes.

Diet:

These birds are mostly insectivorous, taking various insects including grasshoppers, caterpillars, flies, ants and small beetles, but also spiders, molluscs and sometimes seeds and berries.

Breeding:

Spectacled warblers breed in March-June. The nest is a neat but loosely constructed deep cup of dried grass stems, rootlets, and leaves, often including rag, wool, cobwebs, and paper, usually placed in dense vegetation from the ground level to 1,5 m above the ground. There the female lays 3-5 eggs which are incubated for 12-14 days. The chicks fledge 11-13 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

This species has a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at - million individuals. Although apparently expanding its range in some areas, the total population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction and degradation, but this species is not considered threatened at present.