Rolf Nagel

Barred Warbler breeds across a broad range from C Europe to C Asia; overwinters, however, within a relatively small area in E Africa, mainly in Kenya (BirdLife International 2021). It is a forest bird but can occur in open woodland from woodland margins to thorny bushes, clearings with rich undergrowth, hedgerows, even orchards and urban parks. Mostly insectivorous; with fruit being taken in the non-breeding season. 

Season of assessment

B

Population trendIncreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		1150000-2110000,1530000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Barred Warbler

A species with relatively few encounters, so migration patterns from them must be treated with caution. They move SE in autumn, with most encounters outside the breeding grounds concentrated along the coast of the E Mediterranean (Israel and the surrounding states). Surprisingly, there are no encounters in N Egypt, although other Sylvia/Curruca species stage there consistently in autumn (Fransson et al. 2005). There are only two recoveries in E Africa, so it is not possible to comment on their spatio-temporal distribution in winter. Overlap of birds from N, E and C Europe in the E Mediterranean suggests weak connectivity, at least at flyway levels. There are a few encounters in SC/SW Europe of birds moving SW.

Recoveries by Condition for Barred Warbler

Overall, most (~95%) recoveries are of birds recorded alive, largely recaptures by ringers (~80%). Before 1961, however, most recoveries were of birds found dead (including shot), sick or wounded (overall, ~50%, together with an additional 20% of birds recovered under unknown circumstances). This pattern changed during 1961-1990, with the percentage of birds found dead, sick or wounded falling to <10%. From 1991 to present, almost all recoveries are of birds recaptured in ringing campaigns.

Annual Movements for Barred Warbler

First movements after breeding occur in Jul/Aug, which is confirmed by birds tagged with geolocators in Sweden (Edman 2016). The median trapping date in autumn in Sweden is mid-Aug, and in spring late May (Fransson 1995). Passage through the E Mediterranean in autumn is mostly Jul-Sep (median mid-Sep) (Fransson 1995), and in spring is Apr-May. Geolocators reveal that brids reach the Sahelian belt in Sep, staging and then leaving for the wintering sites by Nov (Edman 2016). They leave the winter quarters in late Mar-Apr, arrivnig back on the breeding grounds in Apr-May.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Barred Warbler

See ‘Annual movements’.

Juan Arizaga

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
BirdLife International 2021 . Species factsheet: Sylvia nisoria.
Edman, Å.2016 . Migration and wintering locations in the barred warbler Sylvia nisoria. Lund University, Degree Projects in Biology,, Lund
Fransson, T.1995 . Timing and speed of migration in north- and west-European population of Sylvia warblers. Journal of Avian Biology 26: 39–48
Fransson, T., Jakobsson, S., Kullberg, C.2005 . Non-random distribution of ring recoveries from trans-Saharan migrants indicates species-specific stopover areas. Journal of Avian Biology 36: 6–11

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