Sylvia conspicillata
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on John Cox's illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The spectacled warbler (Curruca conspicillata) is a species of passerine bird in the warbler genus Curruca in the family Sylviidae. The specific conspicillata is from Latin conspicillum, a place to look from, equivalent to "spectacled".
It breeds in northwest Africa, southwest Europe from Iberia to Italy, and then further east on the eastern Mediterranean islands and coastal regions. It is mainly resident in Africa, but other populations migrate to winter more widely in north and west Africa and Egypt. This bird is a rare vagrant to northern and western Europe.
It also occurs in some Atlantic islands. The subspecies orbitalis has been proposed for those of the Cape Verde Islands. The presumed subspecies for the Madeira birds, bella, is today usually included in this taxon, as are the birds of the Canary Islands, where the species is quite common except on El Hierro and known as zarzalero y ratonero.
These are very small "warblers" and are intermediate between common whitethroats and Tristram's warbler in coloration. Spectacled warblers are brown above and buff below, with chestnut wing patches and a white throat. Adult males have a grey head and the white eye ring which gives the species its name. Immature birds can be confused with both the whitethroat and the western subalpine warbler, and identification is difficult in the field. The song is a fast high warble.
About the precise relationships of this bird, not much can be said with certainty. It seems as if its intermediate appearance, apart from the autapomorphic white eye ring, indicates its relationships reasonably well. At least, it is not the closest living relative of Tristram's warbler.
These small passerine birds are found in dry open country with bushes. 3-6 eggs are laid in a nest in a bush. Like its relatives, the spectacled warbler is insectivorous. Wikipedia →
Recording0:13
Portugal · 2021
© João Esteves · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:03
Spain · 2023
© John D Reynolds · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
Recording0:28
Spain · 2022
© dbeadle · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Camargue | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spectacled Warbler sighting in Sierra Nevada National Park on a given day, based on 90 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 89th most-seen of the 153 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spectacled Warbler in Sierra Nevada National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to April, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spectacled 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.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Spectacled Warbler sightings, Sierra Nevada National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Camargue (France, about 10%).
Same genus: Sylvia
The closest relatives of the Spectacled Warbler that you can see in Sierra Nevada National Park (genus Sylvia, Sylvia Warblers) are Blackcap (about 60%) and Dartford Warbler (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spectacled Warbler is recorded against all the birds logged in Sierra Nevada National Park (90 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
