Paddyfield Warbler

The paddyfield warbler is a marsh warbler 13 cm long with a wingspan of 15–17.5 cm, close in size to the Eurasian reed warbler but with a shorter bill and wingspan. The adult has an unstreaked pale brown back, buff underparts and a warm brown rump, with a clearer whitish eyebrow and a short pointed bill; young birds are richer buff below. It breeds in the temperate central Palearctic and is a rare vagrant to western Europe, with small breeding populations on the Black Sea shores of Bulgaria and Romania (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is migratory, wintering in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, in low vegetation such as long grass, reeds and rice. Four or five eggs are laid in a nest in grass. The song is fast, like the marsh warbler's, with much mimicry and typical acrocephaline whistles, though weaker and more rhythmic. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a winter migrant of wetland with a Large range of about 303,000 km² and inconclusive trends (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).