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Ceólaire:
Willow Warbler: Phyllocopus
The Willow Warbler is
a common bird in Ireland. It visits every Summer. It is also one of our
smallest birds. Its plumage is olive-green and underneath is yellow. Willow
Warblers are found in woods, parks and gardens.They scurry around looking
for insects. The willow warbler and chiff-chaff both belong to the warbler
family of birds.The warblers are small and mostly feed on insects. All
the Irish species of birds are summer visitors but the gold-crest is not.
Willow warblers come from South Africa, arrive later and leave earlier
than the chiff-chaffs. They live lower down, keeping to the bushes, hedges
and brambles and building their nests on the ground. They make an extremely
interesting pair of birds. The chiff-chaff and willow warbler look so alike
that they can only be distinguished by a very close examination of the
wing feathers. The birds themselves are probably not able to tell the difference.
But their songs are enough to tell one from another. The chiff-chaff keeps
his two notes and the willow warbler a beautiful descending scale with
a flourish at the end. The sedge warbler is also a summer visitor but is
usually seen in wet land areas, such as reed beds, ditches and marshes.
It’s brown in color, with black streaks, with cream under-parts.
Story
and Illustration By: Imogene
Rice |
