Radde's Warbler

Overview

Radde's warbler is a leaf warbler that breeds in southern Siberia and is strongly migratory, spending the winter in Southeast Asia. It is a small passerine bird that typically inhabits open deciduous woodlands and scrubby areas near water during its breeding season.

Identification

• Similar in size to a willow warbler with an unstreaked brown back and buff underparts.
• Features a very long prominent whitish supercilium.
• Has a pointed bill that is thicker than that of the similar dusky warbler, with paler legs.
• Feet appear large, reflecting a more terrestrial lifestyle.
• Call is a soft chick.

Habitat

In its breeding range, Radde's warbler is found in southern parts of Central and Eastern Siberia, extending as far east as Korea and Manchuria, within open deciduous woodlands with undergrowth, bushy woodland margins, and areas near water. During winter, it occupies fringes of forests, thick scrub, and bushy places near woodland in countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.

Diet

Like most Old World warblers, this small passerine bird is insectivorous.

Did you know?

This small warbler is prone to vagrancy and has wandered as far as western Europe in October, covering distances of 3,000 km from its breeding grounds. It was first recorded in Northern Ireland in 2008 and has also occurred as an accidental in Heligoland.