From Opus

Photo by Ragna
Lesvos, Greece

Cettia cetti

[edit] Identification

L 13-14 cm

• Rufous upperparts and tail
• Greyish-white underparts
• Pale supercillium
• Dark eyestripe
• Broad rounded tail
  

Sexes and young similar

[edit] Distribution

Found in south-western and southern Europe, North Africa and east over Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to western Xinjiang (China).

Mainly resident, but migratory in East.

Photo by Lee Fuller
Radipole Lake, Dorset, April 2007

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

There are 3 subspecies:

• C. c. cetti:

• Southern Europe to Asia Minor and North Africa

• C. c. orientalis:

• Turkey to Crimea, northern Iran (Zagros Mountains) and northern Afghanistan

• C. c. albiventris:

• Iran to Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and western Xinjiang

A fourth subspecies, sericea, is not recognised by all authorities^[2]

[edit] Habitat

Breeds in dense, rather tall and often well-delimited vegetation, preferably near but not in water, e.g. in drier tall reeds with scattered bushes, stands of papyrus, willow, bamboo, various thick bushes etc.; sometimes breeds near human habitation, in thickly wooded parkland, beside reservoirs and canals etc.

[edit] Behaviour

Generally keeps concealed in vegetation, often hops on ground or low down in shrubbery.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes insects and larvae.

[edit] Breeding

Nests low down in dense vegetation. The 3-6 eggs are laid in a nest which is built in a bush near water.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. BF Member observations
4. Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6

• List of references

[edit] External Links