Wood Warbler

Phylloscopus sibilatrix

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Phylloscopidae
Presence in the Strait: Migrant
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Mosquitero silbador

Photograph: Steve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, CC BY-SA 2.0, vía Wikimedia Commons

Length: 13 cm
Weight: 10 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce migrant.

Identification

The largest Phylloscopus. Green upperparts, yellow throat and breast with clean white underparts that contrast very much with the back. Yellow supercilium and dark eye-stripe. Pale legs.

Movements

Prenuptial migration is more conspicuous with peaks in 2nd hf. April. Postnuptial migration peak in 2nd hf. September.

Ring recoveries

Germany (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

90 %

Peak in April. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 18 April 1987
Latest record: 9 April 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: DD · Data deficient · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Where they come from

1 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Germany1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Willow Warbler11.5–11.5 cm · Migrant
Common Chiffchaff11–11 cm · Seasonal
Western Bonelli´s Warbler11–11 cm · Seasonal
Arctic Warbler12–12 cm · Vagrant
Mountain Chiffchaff11–11 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Phylloscopidae
GBIF taxon key: 8128385

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Steve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, CC BY-SA 2.0, vía Wikimedia Commons
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Wood Warbler

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery