Hippolais languida
Silhouette: John Gerrard Keulemans · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10%
Upcher's warbler (Hippolais languida) is an Old World warbler in the tree warbler genus Hippolais. It breeds in an area from Turkey south and east to Pakistan. It is migratory, wintering in eastern Africa, from Eritrea and Somalia south to Tanzania.
This small passerine bird is a species found in semi-desert habitats, frequenting bushy scrub and thickets of tamarisk. Four or five eggs are laid in a nest in bushes and low trees. This is a medium-sized warbler, similar in size to the icterine warbler, with a slightly longer bill and shorter wings and a longer tail. Its frequent tail movement is reminiscent of a Sylvia warbler or a chat. Its rather grey plumage is similar to the olivaceous warbler, but tail movements are diagnostic.
It feeds on invertebrates. Its song is similar to that of other Hippolais warblers, but distinctive and unmistakable, and entirely different from that of the olivaceous warbler. Ehrenberg's original description of this bird was 'rather vague' and it was redescribed by Henry Baker Tristram in 1864, naming it Hippolais upcheri after his friend Henry Morris Upcher. This is the origin of the bird's common name. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 2 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 3 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 4 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Upcher's Warbler sighting in Abu Dhabi on a given day, based on 22 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.
April and May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Upcher's Warbler in Abu Dhabi on a given day, against under 5% in June to March, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Upcher's Warbler sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 6 cities where we can rate Upcher's Warbler sightings, Abu Dhabi ranks 4th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia, under 5%), Kuwait City (Kuwait, under 5%) and Doha (Qatar, under 5%).
Same family: Acrocephalidae
The closest relatives of the Upcher's Warbler that you can see in Abu Dhabi (family Acrocephalidae, Reed Warblers and Allies) are Eastern Olivaceous Warbler (about 20%), Clamorous Reed Warbler (about 10%) and Marsh Warbler (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Upcher's Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Abu Dhabi (22 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.
