Savi's Warbler Locustella luscinioides Scientific name definitions

13–13·5 cm; 12–21 g. A warmly coloured warbler with rounded tail  and pointed wingtip. Nominate race has top and side of head and upperparts unstreaked dark warm brown; very faint buffy supercilium, dusky lores, buff-flecked ear-coverts; upper­wing-coverts, tertials and edges of flight-­feathers dark warm brown, uniform with upper­parts; tail dark brown; dull brown below, whitish on chin and throat and centre of belly; lower throat sometimes with gorget of small greyish spots, undertail-coverts  usually with paler greyish tips  ; iris dark olive-brown or chestnut-brown; bill dark horn or blackish above, pale yellow-pink below; legs pale brown or pinkish-brown. Sexes alike. Juvenile is like adult, but often tinged more rufous. Race sarmatica is slightly colder, more olive-brown, than nominate; <em>fusca</em> is paler olive-brown above, whiter below, paler on flanks and undertail-coverts.

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Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Marshes, fens and lake edges; reedbeds over shallow water, especially with underlayer or clear areas of sedges and rushes, often with scattered bushes; in Russia, also tall grass and bushes along riverbanks, and reedy canals within sparse forest; generally in lowlands, to c. 630 m in C Europe, but to 1200 m in Kazakhstan. In African non-breeding quarters occurs in marsh and swamp vegetation, reeds, reedmace (Typha) and rank grass; also rice fields, sugar cane, gardens, and in thickets of Salvadora persica by springs.

Long-distance migrant. Entire population migrates to Africa: nominate race winters from Senegal E to L Chad and S to N Ghana, probably also in S Sudan; E races (sarmatica, fusca) winter in S Sudan and Ethiopia; a few remain N of Sahara. Vagrants recorded in SE Kenya. Moves SW from W European breeding areas in Aug and early Sept; E breeding areas vacated late Aug to early Oct, C & E European breeders moving SE towards Levant, Asian ones moving SW; scarcity around Mediterranean indicates long unbroken flights to tropics. Arrives W Africa from Sept, mainly from Nov; main passage Sudan coast late Aug to early Oct, Darfur Oct. Return N movement begins late Feb; present in Senegal to Mar, N Nigeria to Apr, Ethiopia to late Mar/Apr; passage in W Mediterranean early Mar to mid-May, and in Middle East late Feb to early May. Breeding areas in W Europe reoccupied from early Apr to mid-Apr, in Ukraine late Mar to early Apr, and in Poland and E Germany from late Apr. Arrives Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan from early Apr, crossing Chokpak Pass (S Kazakhstan) mainly late Apr and early May.

Mainly insects, including mayflies (Ephemeroptera), adult and larval damselflies and dragonflies (Odonata), small grasshoppers (Orthoptera), adult and larval lepidopterans, adult and larval flies (Diptera), ants (Hymenoptera) and beetles (Coleoptera); also spiders (Araneae) and small molluscs. Forages among low vegetation, by picking prey from stems, from water surface or from ground. Hops or walks deliberately on ground; creeps through grass, with tarsi held almost horizontal.

Song a continuous reeling with hard, mechanical quality, carrying up to 500 m, introduced by series of quiet “tchik” notes; alarm a chattering “chik-chik-chik”.

Laying mainly mid-May to early Jul, but from late Apr in S Europe and early Apr in Levant; often double-brooded. Usually monogamous; solitary, territorial. Nest a deep cup, loosely built from dead water-plant leaves and grass stems, lined with finer leaves and plant fibres, well concealed less than 50 cm above water or swampy ground in aquatic vegetation. Clutch 2–6 eggs , usually 4–5; incubation period 10–12 days, occasionally 13 days; fledging period 11–15 days. Of 73 nests in Poland, 44% lost through predation; loss more frequent for lower nests above shallower water.

Not globally threatened. Widespread and locally common, but breeding sites scattered, with wide gaps in distribution. Total population in Europe (excluding Russia) estimated in 1990s at c. 152,000–221,000 pairs, with highest numbers in Romania (70,000–130,000 pairs) and Hungary (c. 30,000–60,000 pairs); in addition, probably c. 31,000 pairs in European Russia and at least 3100 pairs in Turkey. Average densities 2·1–8·8 pairs/10 ha in Netherlands and Germany, and up to 15·8 pairs/10 ha in S Poland. General trends in Europe in last three decades of 20th century very uneven, with apparent increases mostly in C & E Europe; in Latvia both numbers and range increased by more than 50%, whereas in Czech Republic range expanded by more than 50% but breeding numbers unchanged. In contrast, distinct declines noted in W & S limits of European range: in Netherlands population decreased by 50–75% from 1965–75 to 1993, and declines recorded also in Belgium, Portugal, Italy, Croatia and Moldova; in Britain (where always rare), maximum of 30 pairs in late 1970s reduced to a mere handful in 1990s, and no confirmed breeding in recent years. Population fluctuations are characteristic of this species, and likely due both to habitat alterations in breeding areas and to prevailing weather in African winter quarters; marsh habitat vulnerable to human interference (e.g. drainage) and natural change (water-level changes, vegetation succession).