Species › Birds

Western Orphean Warbler

Sylvia hortensis

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sylviidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Curruca mirlona

47% of its open observations in the area are from April.

Photograph: Julien Renoult, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 15 cm
Weight: 21 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce summer visitor to wild olive woods with scattered scrub. They show site fidelity.

Identification

Large, with greyish upperparts and pale underparts suffused pink; strong bill and yellow-white iris; white sides to tail. Dark greyish legs. Males have black face-mask, greyer in females. Juveniles are like females but browner above, with duller outer tail feathers and black iris.

Movements

Peaks in 1st hf. May and September.

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

47 %

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: 29 April 1921
Latest record: 8 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.

Same genus in the Strait

Eurasian Blackcap14–14 cm · Resident
Garden Warbler14–14 cm · Migrant
Common Whitethroat14–14 cm · Seasonal
Sardinian Warbler13–13 cm · Resident
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: 10630343

Sources

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

Western Orphean Warbler

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Gallery