Western Orphean Warbler Curruca hortensis Scientific name definitions

15 cm; 14·6–30·5 g. Rather large and heavy Curruca warbler with moderately long tail and wing, and a long, pointed bill. Male nominate race has blackish hood , usually with somewhat darker and purer black facial mask; upperparts pale brownish grey, merging with blackish hood on nape; remiges and upperwing-coverts blackish grey with pale grey to greyish-brown fringes; alula blackish, smaller feathers with broad greyish-brown fringes, largest one narrowly fringed whitish; tail greyish black, outermost rectrix with well-demarcated long narrow white wedge (edge and tip) on inner web (fringe on outer web), white top on adjacent two rectrices; mostly whitish below, purer white on throat and mid-belly, marked pinkish creamy-buff tinge on breast-side, flanks and vent; undertail-coverts pinkish grey, slightly paler grey fringes; iris whitish cream (sometimes with diffuse brownish dots), orbital ring blackish grey to blackish, eyering largely blackish; bill with blackish culmen and tip, pale greyish cutting edges of maxilla and half to one-third of basal mandible; legs greyish. Female resembles male but browner above, more intensely suffused buffish brown (less pinkish) below, head distinctly paler (more concolorous with mantle), mostly medium-grey, often with darker ear-coverts and paler lores; iris mostly dull pale yellowish, eyering with greyish and white feathers. Juvenile is buffish greyish brown above, buffish brown below except for whiter throat, has pale edges and tips of tail feathers reduced and with distinct creamy suffusion, iris dark brown to olive-brown, orbital ring brownish grey to blackish grey, eyering mostly white; first-winter resembles female, distinguished by juvenile-like unmoulted flight-feathers and bare parts. Race cyrenaicae differs from nominate in having paler mantle and back, and a longer, more distinctly bicoloured bill (1 Svensson, L. (2012). A new subspecies of Western Orphean Warbler Sylvia hortensis and criteria for separating Western from Eastern Orphean Warbler S. crassirostris. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 132(2): 75–83. Close ).

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Until recently considered conspecific with C. crassirostris (which see). Newly described race cyrenaicae based on specimen previously thought to represent crassirostris, but plumage and other characters indicate that it belongs with present species (1 Svensson, L. (2012). A new subspecies of Western Orphean Warbler Sylvia hortensis and criteria for separating Western from Eastern Orphean Warbler S. crassirostris. Bull. Brit. Orn. Club 132(2): 75–83. Close ). Two subspecies recognized.

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.

Favours various types of open or semi-open woodland with variable bushy cover, e.g. maquis with cork oak (Quercus suber) and holm oak (Quercus ilex), also dehesa-like forest of Argania spinosa (Morocco), olive groves and park-like pine (Pinus) forest. Found also in abandoned orchards, suburban gardens, and forested margins of vineyards and ravines. Occupies warm and dry environments mostly below 800 m, locally reaching c. 2000 m in Spanish Pyrenees and c. 2500 m in NW Africa. In non-breeding range inhabits various semi-arid savanna and steppe-like habitats with sparse tree cover and some scrubby vegetation, mostly acacia (Acacia) woodland or scrub; also tamarisk (Tamarix) thickets and along bushy riversides.

Medium-distance to long-distance migrant; scarce records of overwintering N of Sahara, e.g. in Morocco and N Algeria. Generally moves singly. Vacates breeding grounds from Jul to Sept, passing through S France between late Jul and mid Oct; autumn passage through breeding range to mid Oct, mostly early Aug to mid Sept; reaches non-breeding areas in W African Sahel zone in late Aug and Sept. Departure from non-breeding grounds primarily from late Feb/early Mar and ending in May, exceptionally later (one in Niger in Jun); spring passage through NW Africa late Feb to mid May, in SW Europe late Mar to May (mainly mid Apr to mid May). Reaches breeding grounds in NW Africa and S Europe from early or late Mar to early Apr, mostly from Apr onwards; arrival in extreme N parts of range, e.g. Switzerland, in late Apr or early May. Males arrive in breeding areas a few days earlier than females. Vagrants recorded N to British Isles and the Netherlands.

Mostly arthropods, especially insects and their larvae; also berries outside breeding season. Invertebrate diet includes spiders (Araneae), ticks (Acarina), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), cockroaches (Blattodea) and mantises (Mantodea), stick-insects (Phasmida), bugs (Hemiptera), moths (Lepidoptera), flies (Diptera), sawflies and ants (Hymenoptera), beetles (Coleoptera), snails (Mollusca) and earthworms (Oligochaeta). Fruits taken include those of genera Rubus, Prunus, Rhamnus, Rubia, Vitis, Ficus, Sambucus, Lonicera, Salvadora, Myoporum, Pistacia, Morus, Capparis, Daphne and Olea; nectar and seeds also taken. Forages by moving slowly from low scrub to top of trees, gleaning and picking food items from leaves and branches, mostly on external leafy parts; sometimes catches insects directly on ground or by flycatching. Frequently associates with Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator) while feeding; often perching in same tree as latter.

Song , from leafy cover on top of bush or tree, rarely during song flight, a vigorous, rather coarse and far-carrying warble, a very monotonous and relaxed combination of notes alternating in pitch, e.g. “teero-teero-teero”, but sometimes also a Sylvia atricapilla-like series of pleasant, fluting and descending notes rendered “wae-wee-woo-wou”, sometimes introduced by a few chattering notes, usually on a uniform tempo and with a mean length of c. 1·5 seconds. Occasionally sings in flight, but not in a display as such. Common contact call a hard “tchak”.

Season mid Apr to Jul, in S Europe laying mostly second half May; one brood. Monogamous; territorial, with territory size typically 2–2·5 ha. Nest built by both sexes, a rather robust cup of grass and plant material with vegetable down, moss and cobwebs, lined with finer grasses and fibres, placed c. 0·5–5 m (average c. 1·5 m) above ground in bush or tree (deciduous or juniper); frequently close to nest of Woodchat Shrike (Lanius senator), even in same tree/bush. Clutch 3–6 eggs, usually 3–5 (average 4·6–4·8 in Switzerland and France, 4·2 in NW Africa); replacement clutches laid after eggs lost; incubation by both parents, mostly by female, usually from penultimate egg, period 12 days; both also tend chicks, nestling period c. 12–14 days; young fed by parents for a further 5–6 days after fledging. Oldest recorded individual in captivity 14 years.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Rather patchily distributed; common to very common breeder in optimal habitats, but otherwise rather scarce; fairly common to locally common in most parts of main non-breeding grounds. Bred in Luxembourg until end of 19th century; has bred once (1915) in Belgium. Breeding population in Europe (including W part of range of C. crassirostris) estimated at 170,000–480,000 pairs in year 2000. Breeding densities up to 2–4 pairs/10 ha in more suitable habitats (e.g. cork oak maquis), but only 0·3–1·1 pairs/10 in most areas. Declined markedly in Spain (European stronghold, with 170,000–440,000 pairs) and Italy between 1970 and 1990, but current situation less clear; seems to be recovering slightly in some areas, e.g. has expanded its range in NE Spain since late 1970s and early 1980s, and during 1990–2000 increased in France but decreased in Italy (1000–2000 pairs) and Switzerland, where small population declined from 10–25 pairs in early 1970s to < 5 pairs in 1990s. Has suffered habitat loss and deterioration caused mainly by agricultural intensification and decreased grazing. Wildfires can have adverse effect in the short term but, by helping to open up forested areas, probably favour the species; in Mediterranean region can breed in burnt cork oak forest in the year immediately after fire, taking advantage of rapid recovery of tree canopy, and reaching very high densities only four years after fire.