Willow Warbler
Phylloscopus trochilus
Habitat
Canopy
Diet
Invertebrate
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
9 g
About This Species
Listen in birch woodland, willow scrub, and young mixed woodland across Europe and Asia for its distinctive song, a gentle cascade of notes that descends and fades, delivered from cover in the canopy or scrub layer. It closely resembles the Chiffchaff but is best told apart by song and by paler legs, and it forages actively for insects among leaves rather than sitting still for long. Spring, shortly after arrival from its long migration to sub-Saharan Africa, is the best time to hear singing males establishing territory before leaves fully obscure the canopy.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Observing from a path or clearing edge at 10 metres or more with binoculars is usually sufficient, since this is a small, active bird that does not require close approach to be enjoyed by song alone.
- Nest protection during the breeding season applies under UK and EU wildlife law across much of its European range, though enforcement and specific provisions differ by country, so avoid searching for or handling ground nests, which are well hidden in low vegetation and easily trampled.
- Playback of recorded song should be used sparingly, if at all, since it can draw territorial males away from feeding and nest defense.
Seasonal Activity
3,770,179 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Phylloscopidae
Traits
- Diet
- Invertebrate
- Foraging
- Canopy
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 9 g
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.