Sylvia nana
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on John Cox's illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
The Asian desert warbler (Curruca nana) is an Old World warbler which breeds in the deserts of central and western Asia and the extreme east of Europe (Volga Delta area east to western Inner Mongolia in China), and migrating to similar habitats in southwestern Asia (Arabia to northwestern India) and the far northeast of Africa (Red Sea coastal regions) in winter. Until recently it was considered conspecific with the African desert warbler (and called just "desert warbler"), but is now given specific status. The two are still each other's closest living relatives, and their relationships to other typical warblers are not clear. They may be fairly close to the common whitethroat; particularly, female whitethroats look much like a richly coloured Asian desert warbler. But it seems that all these three taxa are fairly basal members of the genus.
It is a small bird (the second-smallest in the genus after African desert warbler), 11.5–12.5 cm long. The sexes are almost identical in colour, pale grey-brown above with browner wings and tail, and whitish below; the bill and legs are yellowish, and the eye has a yellow iris. Like its relatives, it is insectivorous, but will also take small berries; unlike most warblers, it commonly feeds on the ground. The song is a distinctive jingle often given in an advertisement flight, with a mix of clear and harsher notes. It breeds in semi-desert and dry steppe environments, as long as some bushes for nesting occur. The nest is built in low shrub, and 4–6 eggs are laid.
It has occurred as a rare vagrant as far west as Great Britain. The specific nana is Latin for "dwarf", from earlier Ancient Greek nanos. Wikipedia →
Recording0:20
Mongolia · 2025
© Donna Pomeroy · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Asian Desert Warbler sighting in Abu Dhabi on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 100th most-seen of the 159 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Asian Desert Warbler in Abu Dhabi on a given day, against under 5% in April to February, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Asian Desert Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Asian Desert Warbler sightings, Abu Dhabi has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Doha (Qatar, under 5%) and Beijing (China, under 5%).
Same genus: Sylvia
The closest relatives of the Asian Desert Warbler that you can see in Abu Dhabi (genus Sylvia, Sylvia Warblers) are Lesser Whitethroat (about 20%), Blackcap (about 20%) and Whitethroat (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Asian Desert Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Abu Dhabi (21 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
