Scientific name: Sylvia hortensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
Bird group: Warblers
Field characters. 15 cm. Larger and bulkier than Blackcap and Sardinian Warbler. Head dark grey, ear coverts almost black. Upperparts greyish-brown, wings and tail slightly darker. Tail with obvious white edgings. Breast with slight pinkish wash, flanks with greyish wash, throat, belly and undertail white. Female and juvenile slightly duller than male. Iris of adult male yellow, of female yellowish or light brown-grey, of juvenile dark iris (but colour sometimes difficult to see). Juvenile rather like juvenile Lesser Whitethroat but larger and more heavily built, with longer and thicker bill, without (faint) eye-ring, and with darker undertail-coverts (whitish in Lesser Whitethroat). Hops heavily through branches and foliage. Very shy and difficult to see.
Voice. Call like Blackcap 'teck'. Song warbling; repetitive and simple in south-west Europe (hortensis), more nightingale-like in south-east (crassirostris). Both forms are sometimes considered distinct species, the Western en Eastern Orphean Warbler.
Distribution. Locally rather common.
Habitat. In orchards, groves, open woodland, and tall maquis.
Food. Invertebrates and fruits. Usually stays in dense cover.