Cetti's Warbler

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Cetti's Warbler in the UK

Cetti's Warbler is a recent colonist. The first British record was in Hampshire in 1961 and breeding was first proved in Kent in 1972 or 1973. It now breeds widely in lowland wetlands across southern and eastern England and Wales, and reached north of the Humber in 2006. The latest estimate is 3,450 singing males (2016), and numbers have risen more than twelvefold since 1995. It stays all winter, so cold spells hit it hard: numbers fell by over a third in the mid-1980s. It is Green-listed and protected under Schedule 1.

Where and when to see a Cetti's Warbler

All year. It sings in every month, loudest from March to May and at dawn. Look where reeds meet bramble or willow scrub beside ditches, rivers, canals, gravel pits and coastal marshes. Most wetland reserves in the southern half of Britain have several pairs, with strongholds in the Thames basin, the Hampshire Avon and the Great Ouse. Stand still near a singing bird and watch the gaps low in the bushes. It moves on after each burst of song.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Dense waterside scrub.
Diet: Insects.
Field note: Explosive song; rarely seen.

How to identify a Cetti's Warbler

A little larger than a Reed Warbler and stockier, with short rounded wings and a long, broad, rounded tail that it often cocks like a Wren. Rich chestnut-brown above, pale grey on the face and underparts, with a thin pale stripe over the eye. Sexes look alike. It keeps low in thick cover, hopping and creeping like a mouse, and shows only briefly as it crosses a gap. Most sightings are of a dark, rufous, round-tailed bird diving into the base of a bush.

Call and song

The song is a sudden, very loud burst of clear notes, 'chee! chewee-chewee-chewee-chew!', lasting two or three seconds and then stopping dead. Nothing else in a reedbed is as abrupt. The call is a hard 'plit'. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Common Reed Warbler: Reed Warbler is plainer and paler brown with a narrow tail, a long chattering song and is here only in summer.
• Eurasian Wren: Wren is much smaller with a tiny cocked tail and fine dark barring on wings and flanks.
• Common Nightingale: Nightingale also sings loudly from cover and has a rufous tail, but is bigger, a summer visitor, and sings a long, varied song.

Related guide Bird migration in Britain.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Cetti's Warbler is an Uncommon tier bird, worth +3 points when you log one. It is not on the Red or Amber lists in Birds of Conservation Concern 5. It is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, so it is an offence to disturb it at or near the nest. We blur the location of every sighting of this species.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Common NightingaleUncommon · Dense scrub (S. England summer)
• Grey CatbirdLegendary · Dense scrub (very rare vagrant)
• Sardinian WarblerEpic · Dense Med scrub
• Lesser WhitethroatUncommon · Hedges
• Garden WarblerUncommon · Scrub
• Acadian FlycatcherLegendary · Scrub (extreme vagrant)

Cetti's Warbler: quick answers

Where can I see a Cetti's Warbler in the UK?

Almost any lowland wetland with scrub in southern and eastern England or Wales. You will hear one long before you see it. For a view, visit in early spring before the leaves are out and wait by a singing bird's regular song posts.

Is the Cetti's Warbler rare in the UK?

Not any more. It was unknown here before 1961 but is now a routine bird on southern wetlands. It is still absent from most of northern England and Scotland, and a hard winter can thin numbers quickly.

What does a Cetti's Warbler eat?

Insects, spiders and other small invertebrates, taken low in dense vegetation and from the ground or water's edge. Because it does not migrate, it depends on finding this food through the winter, which is why freezing weather is such a risk.

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