Main content

Eastern Orphean Warbler

Liz Bonnin presents the eastern orphean warbler in an olive grove near Athens.

Tweet of the Day is the voice of birds and our relationship with them, from around the world.

Liz Bonnin presents the eastern orphean warbler in an olive grove near Athens. Until recently there used to be just a single species of Orphean Warbler; a summer visitor to southern Europe, North Africa and western Asia: a handsome bird much like a large blackcap with a white throat and greyish-brown back. But across the wide breeding range which stretches from Portugal to Pakistan some orphean warblers look and sound different. Those east of Italy tend to be subtly greyer above and paler beneath. And the songs of birds from Greece eastwards are longer and richer, often including the richness of nightingale like notes. These slight differences have persuaded many ornithologists that the Eastern Orphean warbler is a different species to the Western Orphean Warbler. Biologists call this "splitting "although exactly where these new species boundaries lie is a moot point.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

Available now

1 minute

Last on

Thu 27 Jul 2023 05:58

Eastern orphean warbler (Sylvia crassirostris)

Webpage image courtesy of Wild Wonders of Europe Widstr / naturepl.com.

Β© Wild Wonders of Europe Widstr / naturepl.com

Broadcasts

  • Fri 19 Dec 2014 05:58
  • Thu 19 Nov 2015 05:58
  • Mon 15 Jul 2019 05:58
  • Tue 2 Mar 2021 05:58
  • Thu 27 Jul 2023 05:58

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Exploring all things puffin - the silly and the serious, the scientific and the cultural.

Try this new podcast

Five stories of birds and birdsong are told by the people inspired by them.

Podcast