Rainham
> Purfleet-on-Thames area, London/Essex,
England 2018-2023
Each
adult male Cetti's Warbler has a single territorial
song type with no variation between strophes. The birds
in the Rainham area can be categorised into three main
groups based on broadly similar repeated 'phrases':
[A] short length - one phrase
after the initial
element.
[B] medium length - two phrases
after the initial element.
[C] long length
- three phrases after the initial element. Most birds
fall into catergory A, followed by B, then C. Birds
in category C occasionally drop the final phrase 4.
Song
Signatures of Cetti's
Warbler in Western Europe
Song Signatures of
Cetti's Warblers in Western Europe
The
introductory song phrase composed of 1, 2 or 3 elements
(highlighted in colour above) appears to match
a geographic distribution. The proceeding elements (main
phrases of each song) are unique to each individual
bird (though the broad structure of the phrases probably
show some geographic and subspecific patterns).
The
majority of Cetti's Warblers in England, Netherlands,
Belgium and northern France start with a single
element.
Most
birds in southern France, and northern-eastern Spain begin with three elements:
a single, then a double.
In
central and southern Spain/Portugal, the reverse
predominates: a double, then a single.
2018 Short study
of a single male
NCN Route-13/Coldharbour
Lane, Rainham Marshes, Essex, England51°
30' 21.8" N 00° 11' 25.8" W
10:42-11:42h,
1
May 2018
Territorial
song from four song posts along a 160 metre linear territory
bordering a public footpath/cyclepath.
Song
composed of a single 2.5 sec strophe; frequency range 1.91-8.88
kHz; rate ~1 strophe/min (55 strophes in 60 mins).
Minimum
distance of 390 metres travelled in 60 mins.
2019 Sonograms from 24
of the 35 Cetti's Warblers mapped on my cycle route to
work
NCN Route-13/Coldharbour
Lane, Rainham Marshes, Essex, England
Here
are the songs from 24 of the 35 Cetti's Warbler territories
mapped (below) on my cycle to and from work, Rainham-Purfleet
(NCN Route-13), 30-Mar to 2-Jun 2019. Each bird has
a single unique song type not shared with any other
individual.
NCN Route-13/Coldharbour
Lane, Rainham Marshes, Essex, England
Mapping
of 35 Cetti's Warbler territories on my cycle to and
from work, Rainham-Purfleet (NCN Route-13), 30-Mar to
2-Jun 2019.
2021 Sonograms from 60 of
the 62 Cetti's Warblers mapped on my cycle route to work
NCN Route-13/Coldharbour
Lane, Rainham Marshes, Essex, England
Mapping
of 62 Cetti's Warbler territories on my cycle to and
from work, Rainham-Purfleet (NCN Route-13), April to
June 2021.
NCN Route-13/Coldharbour
Lane, Rainham Marshes, Essex, England
Here
are the songs from 60 of the 62 Cetti's Warbler territories
mapped (below) on my cycle to and from work, Rainham-Purfleet
(NCN Route-13), April to June 2021. Each bird has
a single unique song type not shared with any other
individual.
2022 Recording points
of sound recordings of 69 Cetti's Warblers mapped on
my cycle route to work
NCN Route-13/Coldharbour
Lane, Rainham Marshes, Essex, England
Mapping
of 69 Cetti's Warbler territories (no #47) on my cycle to and
from work, Rainham-Purfleet (NCN Route-13), April to
June 2022.
Rainham
Marshes, Essex,
England 51º
29' 15.35'' N 00º 13' 22.7'' E 9
April 2021
Territorial
song
(category A1 song - single short phrase after the initial element) from a Cetti's Warbler in Blackberry scrub/Goat Willow
on the edge of a reedbed. A single strope uttered 1-2
times per minute.
Rainham
Marshes, Essex,
England 51º
30' 27'' N 00º 10' 54'' E 2
June 2019
Territorial
song (category B1 song - where two phrases after
the initial element are similar)
from a Cetti's Warbler in Blackberry scrub/Goat Willow
on the edge of a reedbed. A single strope uttered 1-2
times per minute.
Rainham
Marshes, Essex,
England 51º
30' 13'' N 00º 11' 06'' E 2
May 2021
Cetti's
Warbler with longer song (category C1 song - where three phrases
after initial element are similar). Phrases 2, 3 and 4 sound
identical to the human ear but the spectrogram reveals
minor differences.
Rainham
Marshes, Essex,
England 51º
29' 16'' N 00º 13' 28'' E 4
February 2023
Cetti's
Warbler with longer song (category C song - where three phrases
after initial element are similar). Phrases 2, 3 and 4 sound
identical to the human ear but the spectrogram reveals
minor differences.
Rainham
Marshes, Essex,
England 51º
30' 27'' N 00º 11' 23'' E 19
April 2021
An
agonistic song battle between two male Cetti's Warblers
disputing territory. Lasted at least four minutes before
physical attacks began and singing stopped. Both
bird appeared to be singing
standard undisturbed territorial song (S-song)
and aggressive territorial song (I-song) (Luschi
& Seppia 1996) at a very high rate compared with
typical day song (1-2 strophes/min).
Rainham
Marshes, Essex,
England 51º
29' 13'' N 00º 13' 43'' E 12
February 2023
An
agonistic song battle between two male Cetti's Warblers
disputing territory. Both birds raising and flapping
a single wing at the other in low bramble scrub emerging
from Phragmites.
(Chainsaw
background noise from rspb cutting down a large Walnut
tree).
Rainham
Marshes, Essex,
England 51º
30' 40'' N 00º 10' 56'' E 3
June 2022
Male Cetti's Warbler
song interrupted by a female uttering a rattle call
(2.9-8.9 kHz) composed of 18 elements in 1.2 secs,
followed by single tick calls and a further rattle
(17 elements in 1 sec).
Tsiknias River mouth, Lesvos,
Greece 39°
12' 14.7" N 26° 13' 35.5" E 25
May 2017
Territorial
dawn song (3-4 strophes per minute - greater output
than later in the day) from riverside vegetation.
Composed of an sudden, loud, metallic chirping with
an introductory double-element, followed by a brief
pause, then two phrases of double-elements back-to-back.
BWP
states that the Cetti's Warbler is audible up to 300
metres (Trouche 1939). This is probably at least true
across typical marshland habitat. On rare, flat calm
mornings in Essex on the River Thames, or even with
a slight southerly wind, I've heard Cetti's Warbler
singing from the Kent side of the river, a distance
of at least 750 metres to the nearest bush.