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  Profile

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  In flight

Songbirds

Willow Warbler

Phylloscopus trochilus

• rare
• 55 km/h
• Least Concern

Migrates from Africa to Siberia twice a year on those tiny wings. Cascading silvery song announces spring.

Population

Global population estimated at roughly 236 million to 358 million mature individuals (BirdLife International/IUCN 2018 assessment), with a slowly decreasing trend; European breeding numbers alone run to tens of millions of pairs (e.g., ~24 million pairs in Sweden and Finland combined)

Habitat

Open, young scrubby woodland with scattered trees and dense low ground cover for nesting — birch, willow, and alder stands, damp woodland edges with bracken/moss/bramble, heath, and regenerating clearings; also parks and large gardens

Fun fact

Despite weighing only about 9 grams, the Willow Warbler is one of the longest-distance migrant songbirds relative to its size, with eastern (Siberian) populations flying up to 12,000 km each way to sub-Saharan African wintering grounds, and it is one of the few Palearctic passerines to undergo two complete body molts per year.

Range

Breeds across the Palearctic from Ireland and Britain eastward through Scandinavia, continental Europe, and Siberia to the Anadyr River basin; occurs across over 180 countries/territories; entire population migrates to winter in sub-Saharan Africa

Diet

Insectivorous — gleans small insects, aphids, and spiders from foliage; occasionally takes fruit and berries in autumn before migration

Size

0.12 m

Wingspan

0.195 m

Lifespan

12 years