Grasshopper Warbler

Locustella naevia

Common Summer visitors from April-October of 11,000 pairs in Britain plus 24,000 in Ireland.

Also breeds in mainland Europe.

Winters in North Africa.

The upper-parts are pale olive-brown, each feather having a central darker brown streak.

The cheeks are greyish, the irises are brown and there is a faint eye streak behind the eye.

The upper mandible of the beak is dark brown and the lower mandible yellowish-brown.

The underparts are cream-coloured or yellowish-buff with a few dark brown spots and streaks on the breast and flanks.

The wings are brown with the outer edge of the feathers rimmed with paler brown.

The song is a long, high-pitched reeling trill performed with beak held wide open and the whole body vibrating.