Species › Birds

Garden Warbler

Sylvia borin

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sylviidae
Presence in the Strait: Migrant
Abundance: abundant
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Curruca mosquitera

35% of its open observations in the area are from September.

Photograph: Ani Sarkisyan, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 14 cm
Weight: 19 g

Presence in the Strait

Abundant migrant.

Identification

Lacks any obvious features, plain dull brown above and pale buff suffusion below; similar to female Blackcap without the cap. Plump, with rounded head, short bill and dark legs.

Movements

Peaks in 1st hf. May and 2nd hf. September.

Ring recoveries

Germany (9), Holland (6), United Kingdom (6), France (5), Switzerland (3), Belgium (2), Morocco (2), Czech Republic (2), Denmark (1), Spain (1) and Norway (1). Sylviidae Zarcero Bereber Zarcero Políglota Curruca Mosquitera

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

35 %

Peak in September. 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: 5 May 1958
Latest record: 3 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: LC · Least concern · 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.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

1990–1999

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

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

Germany9
Netherlands6
United Kingdom6
France5
Switzerland3
Belgium2

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Eurasian Blackcap14–14 cm · Resident · overlapping size
Common Whitethroat14–14 cm · Seasonal · overlapping size
Sardinian Warbler13–13 cm · Resident
Western Orphean Warbler15–15 cm · Seasonal
Dartford Warbler13–13 cm · Resident

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: Sylviidae
GBIF taxon key: 2492942

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Ani Sarkisyan, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Garden Warbler

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery