Willow Warblers fly thousands of miles for an English summer

This edited article about birds first appeared in Look and Learn issue number 593 published on 26 May 1973.

Willow Warbler

The Willow Warbler or Willow Wren as it is sometimes called is not very well named for it shows no particular preference for willow trees. It is just as likely to be found on any well-wooded heath or common, or in a shrubbery or large garden.

All members of the Warbler family are slightly-built birds with the typical thin, pointed beaks of insect eaters. The plumage of the Willow Warbler is greenish grey with pale yellow underparts and its sweet but rather plaintive song of descending notes is one of those most often heard in the woods at this time of year.

This bird is a summer visitor, usually arriving sometime in April. It comes to us from southern Europe and Africa but some of its relations cover much greater distances. One bird, which spends summer in Eastern Siberia travels all the way from its winter quarters in East Africa, a journey of 7,000 miles – quite a jaunt for such a small bird.

The nest of the Willow Warbler is made from dry grass lined with moss. It is nearly always sited on the ground but the bird takes great care to camouflage it with a dome of grass stems. Six to eight speckled eggs are laid in May and the young keep both parents very busy, demanding to be fed, mostly on a diet of insects and young caterpillars.