Orphean Warbler
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 Sylvia nisoria (up) and Sylvia hortensis (bottom)
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| Sylvia hortensis (Gmelin, 1789) |
The Orphean Warbler or European garden warbler, Sylvia hortensis, is an Old World warbler in the typical warbler genus Sylvia. It has two subspecies; the western race breeds in southwest Europe and north west Africa, and the eastern form breeds in southeast Europe, Turkey and the Caucasus, This warbler is migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a rare vagrant to northern and western Europe.
These small passerine birds are found in open deciduous woodland. 4-6 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush or tree. Like most warblers, Orphean Warbler is insectivorous.
These are large for warblers, at 15-16 cm length, similar in size to a Blackcap. The adult males have a plain grey back and whitish underparts. The bill is long and pointed and the legs black. The male has a dark grey head, black eye mask and white throat. The iris is white.
Females and immatures have a paler head and buff underparts. The iris is dark. Their grey back has a brownish tinge. The song is a repeated liroo-liroo.
Eastern race birds, S. h. crassirostris, have a more varied song and pinker belly than those breeding in south west Europe and Africa. They are increasingly considered a separate species, the Eastern Orphean Warbler, Sylvia crassirostris (Cretzschmar, 1826), leaving S. hortensis as the Western Orphean Warbler.
This bird is also known as a figpecker, beccafico (beak, from Latin beccus; + fig, from Latin fīcus), or greater pettychaps, of which, are popularly supposed to live on figs and are highly esteemed for the banquet table.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Sylvia hortensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern.
- Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913).
- This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 edition of The Grocer's Encyclopedia.
