Olive-tree Warbler

Olive-tree Warbler

Hippolais olivetorum

Silhouette: John Gerrard Keulemans · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Jerusalem

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%

427 Verified sightings at Jerusalem
125 In all 3 parks From 2019 to 2026
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Olive-tree Warbler

The olive-tree warbler (Hippolais olivetorum) is a species of passerine bird in the family Acrocephalidae, the reed and tree warblers. It breeds in southeast Europe and the Near East. It is migratory, wintering in eastern and southern Africa, from Kenya south to South Africa.

The olive-tree warbler was first formally described as Salicaria olivetorum in 1837 by the English geologist, ornithologist, naturalist and systematist Hugh Strickland with its type locality given as Zante in the Ionian Islands, Western Greece. This species is now classified in the genus Hippolais, the tree warblers, within the family Acrocephalidae. All the "Old World warblers" were formerly classified within the wastebin taxon known as Sylviidae sensu lato but in the late 20th Century molecular studies resulted in this taxon being divided into a number of families.

The olive-tree warbler belongs to the genus Hippolais, this name is from Ancient Greek hupolais, as misspelt by Linnaeus. It referred to a small bird mentioned by Aristotle and others and may be onomatopoeic or derived from hupo,"under", and laas, "stone". The specific name olivetorum is Latin for "of the olive groves... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:37

Croatia · 2025

© Domagoj Tomičić · XC1003183 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:15

Israel · 2016

© Heidi Vibe Frederiksen · XC336507 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:18

Zambia · 2024

© Dries Van de Loock · XC958793 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
2 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
3 Samburu National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Jerusalem 🇮🇱 Israel
~10%
2 Ramallah 🇵🇸 Palestine
<5%
3 Tel Aviv 🇮🇱 Israel
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing an Olive-tree Warbler in Jerusalem?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Olive-tree Warbler sighting in Jerusalem on a given day, based on 427 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 71st most-seen of the 192 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see an Olive-tree Warbler in Jerusalem?

May

In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an Olive-tree Warbler in Jerusalem on a given day, against under 5% in June and September–March, the lowest months. That is one of Jerusalem's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain against 90 mm in January.

What time of day is best to see an Olive-tree Warbler?

Between 7 and 10 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Olive-tree 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.

Is Jerusalem the best place to see an Olive-tree Warbler?

Yes

Of the 3 cities where we can rate Olive-tree Warbler sightings, Jerusalem has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Ramallah (Palestine, under 5%) and Tel Aviv (Israel, under 5%).

Where does the Olive-tree Warbler sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Olive-tree Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Jerusalem (427 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.

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