Common Grasshopper Warbler
Locustella naevia
Its song is a continuous mechanical reeling that can last for several minutes, sounding so much like a grasshopper that it often goes unnoticed by birdwatchers.
- Scientific name
- Locustella naevia
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Locustellidae › Locustella
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- wetland
- Habitat
- Damp scrub, marshes, rough grassland, and young forest plantations.
- Diet
- Mainly insects, spiders, and other small invertebrates.
- Range
- Europe, Temperate Asia, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa
- Size
- 12.5 cm length, 11-15g weight
- Lifespan
- 2-5 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat loss due to wetland drainage and intensification of agricultural land use.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. This bird is extremely shy and difficult to spot. Maintain a quiet distance and avoid trampling through dense reeds or scrub where it may be nesting on the ground.
The common grasshopper warbler ( Locustella naevia ) is a species of Old World warbler in the grass warbler genus Locustella . It breeds across much of temperate Europe and western Asia. It is migratory, wintering in north and west Africa. The genus name Locustella is from Latin and is a diminutive of locusta , "grasshopper". Like the English name, this refers to the characteristic insect-like song of the common grasshopper warbler and some others in this genus. The specific...
Photo: franciscodocampo, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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