Update and video: Rare sighting of spectacled warbler delights birdwatchers in Norfolk

A spectacled warbler (Sylvia conspicillata) was yesterday spotted in the dunes at Burnham Overy, to the delight of birdwatchers who have travelled across the country for a glimpse of the brownish-grey bird, which measures about 13cm.

The reason for the excitement is that this is only the eighth recorded sighting of a spectacled warbler in Britain.

While fairly common in Africa and the Mediterranean, the bird’s forays to Britain might be rare, but of its seven visits to these shores, this is the second sighting in Norfolk.

In 2011 one was spotted on Scolt Head Island, not far from Burnham Overy. But this time, the more easily accessible Gun Hill at Burnham Overy is where one of the birds has landed.

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Male Spectacled Warblers Are Innovative Singers

Jan. 14, 2014 — The variability in the song of the male spectacled warbler could play a crucial role in mating, defending territory and recognition between individuals of this species. Studying their acoustic signals will help to understand how this bird, with a small brain and limited social needs, can use a complex system of communication.

Each male specimen of spectacled warbler, Sylvia conspicillata, has a complex, diverse song, in which new syllables are added and the order is changed as they go along, with a level of skill that relies on their capacity for innovation. Spanish scientists have characterised the acoustic signal of this species, its virtuosity and variability, to try to understand the role that this signal plays in mating, defending territory and recognising individual birds.

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