Bird Sightings: Grasshopper Warbler

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Bird Sightings: Grasshopper Warbler

Grasshopper Warbler

Locustella naevia

Photography © Grahame Thompson
Stornoway Castle Grounds - Isle of Lewis - Outer Hebrides (Western Isles)
15th June, 2007

The grasshopper warbler is an insect-eater, and likes areas of low-thick vegetation. Typically those of heath or scrubland where there is tall grass or scattered bushes, reedbed and loch edges with large tussocks and young tree plantations or clear-felled areas.

This bird arrives in the UK from mid-April, leaving in August and September. It over-winters in Africa.

Furtive in nature and not easy to see when on migration.

Voice is the best clue to the presence of a grasshopper warbler.
Listen to one on the RSPB web site.

UK breeding population 12,300 pairs in 2000
The long-term UK trend is rapid decline: RED-LISTED
Read more about the records on the BTO web site

Grahame Thompson is one of two British Trust for Ornithology ( BTO) ringers on the island. Ringing birds means that birds can be identified as individuals. Then we are able to learn about how long they live, when and where birds move. This is very important for bird conservation. It does not harm the birds.

Other local bird photographs

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