Fun Garden Warbler Facts For Kids

The garden warbler (Sylvia borin) is a typical warbler bird belonging to the family of Old World warblers, the Sylviidae species. Fossils found in France show that the history of their genus Sylvia might date back to at least 20 million years.

Researchers prove that the blackcap bird (Sylvia atricapilla) was their nearest relative, and over time, they came to be two separate, distinct species. However, this bird has other relatives such as the African hill babbler and the Dohrn's thrush babbler.

If you like these, do read our fact files on myrtle warbler and mourning warbler.

Garden Warbler Interesting Facts

What type of animal is a garden warbler?

The garden warbler (Sylvia borin) bird species consists of plain brown colored birds that live in green woodland or mountain woodlands. These birds spend most of the winter in southern and central Africa with their migration period starting at the end of April. In summer, the bird likes to stay in the north especially in the woodland covering Europe.

What class of animal does a garden warbler belong to?

These warblers belong to the class of Aves. This bird species is found mostly in the woodland covering Europe, especially during summer. Despite their name, this species is not normally found frolicking in gardens.

How many garden warblers are there in the world?

Although the exact population of these warblers present is estimated to be around 54- 124 million, they are found in abundance and have a huge population throughout the world. They have been classified under the conservation status of Least Concern by the IUCN.

Where does a garden warbler live?

Garden warblers have their distribution throughout Europe, Siberia, and some parts of Asia. The migration in the south towards central Africa occurs during winter in September and these birds return in to Europe for the summer. Their breeding grounds cover Scandinavia.

What is a garden warbler's habitat?

Warblers are a migratory bird species that migrate to Africa during September. Their habitat is in open woodland and dense trees and bushes for nesting.

They live in suitable mountain woodland but in lower altitude regions than the blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla). They do not live or roam in gardens even though they have a garden in their name.

They build their nest with dry grass, green moss, and twigs, and a garden warbler's nest is generally larger and heavier than the nest of the blackcap.

Who do garden warblers live with?

They are a monogamous bird species, and they live with their partners along with the chicks until the chicks fledge.

How long does a garden warbler live?

The Sylvia atricapilla has an average lifespan of two years. However, they might live up to five years when bred in captivity.

How do they reproduce?

The breeding area is mostly in thick bushes or woodland edges where the male birds establish their territory and defend their area because the blackcap also builds its nest in the same area. The male bird attracts the female bird with its melodious song and constant flapping of wings.

They lay three to five eggs in a cup-shaped nest that they build near the ground covered by bushes. The eggs are laid mostly in April in southern Germany and northwestern Europe.

The eggs are creamy or white in color. The females incubate their eggs for 11-12 days. After the eggs hatch, they are fed by their parents and they fledge after 10 days after they are mature enough to fly.

The eggs might be preyed on by other mammals or birds. The breeding distribution is throughout Scandinavia.

What is their conservation status?

The conservation status of this species of Sylviidae is Least Concern. They have a huge population.

Garden Warbler Fun Facts

What do garden warblers look like?

The garden warbler is a bird of migration that has long wings, long-tailed with plain simple brown feathers and white underparts. They don't have any distinguishing features in the feathers, and they might be confused with the blackcap, their close relatives.

They have black eyes with a white circle around them with a pale-colored head. They have a buff color on their throat and flanks.

They have a strong beak and bluish-green or grayish legs. The male and the female have similar features. The babies have paler plumage.

* Please note that this is an image of a Canada warbler and not a garden warbler. If you have an image of a garden warbler, please let us know at hello@kidadl.com.

How cute are they?

Garden warblers are very cute and small birds. Everyone likes them because of their melodious voice.

How do they communicate?

They have different calls, one of which the male bird makes to attract the female bird during the breeding season. However, they have a call that sounds like 'kek-kek', and when this song is sung in a continuous streak, it means that they should be aware and alert of danger.

How big is a garden warbler?

Garden warblers are 5.5 in (14 cm) in length and have a wing length of 3-3.3 in (7.6-8.4 cm).

How fast can a garden warbler fly?

Garden warblers are birds of migration, and they go south in the winter to Africa starting from September, and they come back to northern Europe in the summer. They fly decently fast, but their exact speed is unknown.

How much does a garden warbler weigh?

Warblers have a weight range of 0.6-0.8 oz (16-22 g). They are small, lightweight birds.

What are the male and female names of the species?

Warblers are distinguished as male and female warblers only. This bird species does not have any specified names.

What would you call a baby garden warbler?

Baby warblers are called chicks or juvenile warblers.

What do they eat?

During the breeding season, insects are their main diet, however, they also eat fruits like figs which are their favorite. This warbler species has a mixed diet of insects and fruits in Africa where they migrate in the winter.

They sometimes eat small invertebrates like tiny spiders and other kinds of insects that they pick up with their beak from the twigs and leaves of trees.

Are they rare?

No, these birds are not rare at all. They are found widely in northern Europe in summer and they migrate towards the south in winter.

Would they make a good pet?

Warblers might make a good pet as they are daring and might even come close to humans. However, they are migratory birds so they should be allowed to travel long distances.

Did you know...

The plain and simple features of garden warblers make people confuse them with other species of Atricapilla like Icterine warblers that have a long bill and yellowish-brown plumage. These warblers also have a melodious voice like garden warblers. The booted warbler has similar colored plumage to the garden warbler bird, but they are relatively smaller.

Some other well-known warblers are the hermit warbler, melodious warbler, and Cyprus warbler.

What does the garden warbler's call sound like?

The garden warbler song bursts into musical warbling for few seconds, or they might continue singing for longer periods. The garden warbler call is often confused with the blackcap.

The warbler makes a frequent song that sounds like 'kek-kek', which is continuously repeated when they are alarmed about something and has a very sharp tone. They have another song which sounds like 'tchurrr-r-r-r'. The full song is mostly heard in April when they come back to Europe.

How do birds like the garden warbler use the magnetic field?

This species generally scans each other's heads to detect magnetic symmetry planes, moving towards their migratory direction. In a place with zero magnetic fields, where there is no symmetry pane, these birds triple their frequency of head scanning, and after their head scan, their movement becomes scattered and random.

This is because the magnetic sensory organs of these birds are located in their heads which they use to get directions given by the geomagnetic field.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! For more relatable content, check out these yellow warbler facts and willow warbler facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable bird coloring pages.