Scientific name: Locustella fluviatilis (Boddaert, 1783)
Bird group: Warblers
Field characters. 13.5 cm. Brown, unstreaked, resembling Savi's Warbler. Upperparts olive- or grey-brown, with rump slightly more rufous. Supercilium indistinct. Throat white, cheeks and breast yellow-brown, mottled brown; belly white, flanks and undertail olive-brown. Differs from Savi's Warbler in mottled breast and broad white edges to undertail coverts. Tail obviously rounded, wings rather short. Sexes and juvenile similar. Usually stays very low in cover and almost impossible to see, except when singing from songpost. Also sings at night. Walks on the ground like a mouse.
Voice. Call low and harsh. Song loud, a long and monotonous 'dèdèdèdèdèdèdè'.
Distribution. Rare summer visitor in west of range; increasingly more common to the east.
Habitat. Partially flooded scrub with dense tangled vegetation at border of forest and marsh.
Food. Insects, mainly found in low cover or on the ground.