Steve Zammit Lupi

Largest Phylloscopus warbler in W Palearctic. Feeds on insects and other invertebrates, with some fruit and seeds in autumn. Favours mixed deciduous forest, especially beech and oak, with some conifers. Rather stable population, although annual fluctuations occur. Breeds in temperate Europe from UK to Russia, excluding the most northern and southern areas. All populations migrate to sub-Saharan Africa.

Season of assessment

B

Population trendDecreasing
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		16200000-28500000,21400000
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 Wood Warbler

Predominant direction of movement on the European continent is NE–SW, a minority move N-S or NW-SE. Birds breeding in the British Isles move almost exclusively NW–SE. Autumn migration of most birds, from all breeding areas, is funnelled through Italy although many birds move through Spain or Corsica and Sardinia. A minority move eastwards through Greece and even Cyprus and Syria. There are recoveries in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia in the N; the most southerly are in Cameroon and the Central African Republic. There is some E-W connectivity, but this is generally long-distance dispersal between breeding seasons.

Recoveries by Condition for Wood Warbler

From 1975 to 2002 the annual number of recoveries fluctuated between 25 and 103, increasing in 2003–2010 to about 150. There has been a further increase (168–397) since then. In spring, most recoveries occur between 21 Apr and 20 Jun, in autumn the peak lies between 30 Jul and 8 Sep. Before 1960 about 70% of the recoveries were of dead birds, including 39% that were shot. Between 1960 and 1990 the percentage of dead birds fell to 16% with recoveries of live birds increasing from 23% to 82%. Since 1991 99% of recoveries have been of birds found alive.

Annual Movements for Wood Warbler

Wood Warblers are in Africa Nov- Mar. In Apr many migrants arrive in their breeding areas or are migrating around the Mediterranean Sep, although some birds are still in sub-Saharan Africa. In May most birds have reached their breeding areas. In Aug the early migrants reach S Europe. By Sep most birds have left their breeding areas and are on migration in S Europe, with a few birds already in their wintering areas. The last birds leave Europe in Oct.

Connectivity by Month by Region for Wood Warbler

Birds breeding in Fennoscandia and C Europe are found in Morocco/Iberia, Tunisia/Sardinia and Italy in equal numbers in Apr–May, although the recoveries are concentrated in Italy in autumn. In Nov-Dec Fennoscandian birds are in Chad and Cameroon, while C European birds winter to the W in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Those breeding in the British Isles are found in Italy in Sep-Oct, but also in Morocco (Sep) and Algeria (Apr) indicating that some birds migrate through Iberia to/from the British Isles. Birds from W Europe are found in eastern Algeria and Italy in April–May but, unlike other populations, they are mostly found in Iberia in Sep-Oct.

Henk van der Jeugd

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries