Warble UK
Wood Warbler
Photo: Steve Garvie from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

Birds / Warblers

Wood Warbler

Phylloscopus sibilatrix
Tricky Summer visitor Woodland
Test yourself

Recording: Patrik Åberg / xeno-canto

Sounds like

An accelerating, shivering trill, sometimes alternating with a sad, piping 'pyu-pyu-pyu'.

Remember it

A coin spinning to a stop on a plate, in a quiet oak or beech wood.

When and where

Listening for the wood warbler

Heard
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Apr to Jul
Time of day
Dawn and Day
Where
Woodland
In Britain
Summer visitor
Family
Warblers

Side by side

Often confused with

Play them one after the other and listen for the difference.

Wood Warbler

Wood Warbler

Phylloscopus sibilatrix
JFMAMJJASOND

A coin spinning to a stop on a plate, in a quiet oak or beech wood.

Willow Warbler

Willow Warbler

Phylloscopus trochilus
JFMAMJJASOND

A wistful sigh down the scale. Looks almost identical to a chiffchaff, but sounds nothing like one.

Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

Phylloscopus collybita
JFMAMJJASOND

It sings its own name, and is one of the first migrants heard in spring, from mid-March.

Could you pick out a wood warbler?

Hear a song, choose from four birds, and build your streak.

Play the quiz

Same habitat

Also in woodland

See all
Blackbird

Blackbird

Turdus merula
JFMAMJJASOND

Slow, rich, fluting phrases that wander about and often trail off into a quiet chuckle.

Blue Tit

Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus
JFMAMJJASOND

Two or three thin, high notes followed by a fast, shimmering trill: 'tsee-tsee-tsuhuhuhu'.

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs
JFMAMJJASOND

A cheerful, accelerating run of notes that tumbles down and ends in a flourish, repeated over and over.

Coal Tit

Coal Tit

Periparus ater
JFMAMJJASOND

A fast, high, two-note phrase repeated several times: 'pitchoo-pitchoo-pitchoo'.