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The willow warbler sighted for the first time in India
About the willow warbler(Phylloscopus trochilus)
- It is one of the longest migrating small birds that breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic
- This bird has been sighted for the first time in the country at Punchakkari in Kerala.
- The bird weighs around 10 g, its long wing feathers that help fly long distances makes it peculiar.
- Generally seen in European and the Palearctic regions, the birds migrate to sub-Saharan Africa during early winter.
- It is strongly migratory, with almost all of the population wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Warblers are generally difficult to identify owing to the small size and change in plumage twice a year.
- They are also the most difficult groups of birds to identify in the field for their striking resemblance to each other.
- It is a bird of open woodlands with trees and ground cover for nesting, including most importantly birch, alder, and willow habitats.
- IUCN status: Least Concern
The Vellayani-Punchakkari paddy fields
These paddy fields are a birding hotspot on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram. It is known to harbour more than 213 species of birds that include both resident and migratory ones. As many as seven species of warblers have been recorded from the Vellayani-Punchakkari fields.
Source:
The Hindu
