Fun Cetti's Warbler Facts For Kids

This article will tell you everything you need to know about a special species of warbler bird including details about its family members, physical description, distribution, range, migration, habitat, diet, song, behavior, breeding, current population, and conservation status.

Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti) is a small brown bush warbler bird belonging to the Cettiidae family and is the genus of Cettia. The species was first introduced and described in 1820 by Coenraad Jacob Temminck, a Danish zoologist. The species is name was chosen in honor of the Italian zoologist Francesco Cetti. In general, their range occupies southern and central Europe, northwest Africa, and the east Palearctic as far as Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. The genus was later classified as type species in 1834 by the French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonapart, and further divided into three subspecies: Cettia cetti cetti – resident to west Europe to Greece, the Balkans, and northwest Africa, Cettia cetti orientalis – resident Turkey to Iran and Afghanistan, and Cettia cetti albiventris– resident to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northwest China and northern Afghanistan. These birds are fairly common but more often heard than seen due to their sulking habits. They inhabit dense bushes, shrubs, reedy marshes, and hedges near shallow waters. There isn't much to add to their physical description as the plumage is plain with no significant markings, however, they differ from any other species as they are rather chunky, plumped, and have warm brown upperparts, pale grayish underparts, and thin gray-white eyebrows, and a long tail.

Learn about some other birds from our house finch facts and myna bird facts pages.

What type of animal is a Cetti's warbler?

Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti) is a small brown bush warbler bird belonging to the Animalia kingdom.

What class of animal does a Cetti's warbler belong to?

Cetti's warbler (Cettia cetti) belongs to the Aves class and the Passeriformes order

How many Cetti's warblers are there in the world?

The current population size of Cetti's warblers in Europe is estimated to be about 600,000-1,600,000 breeding pairs. The population size in Italy and Turkey is considered stable or increasing. Overall, the Cetti's warbler bird species is safe from the dangers of extinction.

Where does a Cetti's warbler live?

The Cetti's warbler distribution occurs across Southern Europe and Southern Asia.

What is a Cetti's warbler's habitat?

The Cetti's warbler habitat includes damp areas, ponds, lakes, marshes, rivers, and regions with temperate climatic conditions.

Who do Cetti's warblers live with?

Birds of this species are solitary but are occasionally spotted foraging in small flocks.

How long does a Cetti's warbler live?

Not only the Cetti's but all warbler species have an average life span of up to five or six years. The maximum recorded ages of wild yellow warblers are around 10 years.

How do they reproduce?

The breeding season begins early summer, and males spend a majority of their time establishing and claiming territories within their range. This species is not monogamous and a single individual bird mates with several partners. Males use their songs to attract females, a good song can attract several females into their respective territories. After the mating pairs or groups are formed, their nests are built in a spot that is well-hidden to keep predators away e.g. inside thick-dense vegetation, bushes, or atop tall trees usually, at around 12-18 in (30-45 cm) above the ground, they are built entirely by females, as males have several partners and continue attracting more females while doing this, they spend little to zero amount of time caring for the eggs or young chicks. The nests are cup-shaped, built haphazardly with twigs, moss, leaves, lined with finer materials, and look untidy. Cetti's warblers that occupy the European range lay eggs from mid-June. Eggs are unusually laid in the morning, a single clutch consists of about four to five chestnut brown-red eggs. The eggs are incubated in females for several weeks. The eggs hatch in 15-18 days. Caring, feeding, and looking after the young ones are also taken care of by females. The young juveniles fledge after 14-16 days to find their territories and nesting areas

Minks often destroy their nests and feed on their eggs.

What is their conservation status?

 The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has classified Cetti's warblers as species of Least Concern.

What do Cetti's warblers look like?

Cetti's warblers have rounded heads, a narrow and curvy pale gray band above their prominent black eyes, and short rounded wings. The upperparts are colored rich chestnut or dark brown-red, the nape, belly, and breast are pale gray. Their tail is dark brown, and the longest among warblers. Both sexes are virtually identical, but males are slightly bigger, and heavier than females. Older birds can be recognized by their faded plumage. Young juveniles look similar to adults but have a dark and brighter plumage. Cetti's warblers are considered odd among passerine birds because they have 10 tail feathers, instead of the usual 12.

How cute are they?

These birds are considered as cute because of their small size and rounded-plump body.

How do they communicate?

A Cetti's warbler's song is sharp, explosive, loud, and rich. It has a unique structure that allows the birds to easily locate, attract, and mate with the same species and avoid others. Usually, this bird sings after taking cover, if spotted they move and hide in a different spot and start singing a new song.

How big is a Cetti's warbler?

The Cetti's warbler is approximately 5.1–5.5 in (13–14 cm ) from bill to tail. A swan is nearly 10 times bigger than a Cetti's warbler.

How fast can a Cetti's warbler fly?

These warblers migrate around 98 ft (30 m) per day during the breeding season. They occasionally stop to rest and search for food.

How much does a Cetti's warbler weigh?

A male warbler weighs around 0.4 oz (15 g), and a female warbler weighs 0.5 oz (12 g).

What are the male and female names of the species?

They do not have individual names for their male and female birds, the birds of this species are simply denoted as males and females.

What would you call a baby Cetti's warbler?

A baby Cetti's warbler is called a chick.

What do they eat?

These birds are insectivorous and often search for food on the ground. Their primary diet includes water beetles, and larvae, earthworms, and spiders.

Snakes often prey on these birds.

Are they dangerous?

No, these birds do not cause any harm to humans. They are shy and maintain their distance.

Would they make a good pet?

These birds have not been domesticated yet, because they are wild, migratory, and territorial. Therefore, these birds would not make good pets.

Did you know...

Cetti's warbler is pronounced as 'chet-ty war-be-ler'.

Different types of warbler

The New World warblers or commonly know as wood-warblers are a group of small, colorful, passerine birds belonging to the family Parulidae. Here are the names of several members belonging to this family: bush-warblers, nightingale reed warblers, plumbeous warblers, elfin woods warblers, arrowhead warblers, hooded warblers, Kirtland's warblers, golden-bellied warblers, gray-throated warblers, gray-and-gold warblers, and russet-crowned warblers.

The Cetti's warbler's migration

The Cetti's warbler migration pattern is unique as they migrate only during the breeding season.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other birds from our cliff swallow facts or belted kingfisher facts pages.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Cetti's warbler coloring pages.