Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 13, 2015

The garden warbler (Sylvia borin) is a common small bird that breeds in most of Europe and in western Asia. It is a plain, long-winged and long-tailed typical warbler with brown upperparts and dull white underparts; the sexes are similar and juveniles resemble the adults. The garden warbler's rich melodic song is similar to that of the blackcap, its closest relative, which competes with it for territory when nesting in the same woodland. The preferred breeding habitat in Eurasia is open woodland with dense low cover for nesting; despite its name, gardens are rarely occupied by this small passerine bird. The clutch of four or five blotched cream or white eggs is laid in a robust cup-shaped nest built near the ground and concealed by dense vegetation. The chicks fledge about 10 days after hatching, and only about a quarter of young birds survive their first year. The species winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Insects are the main food in the breeding season, although fruit predominates when birds are fattening prior to migration, figs being a particular favourite where available. Predators include Eurasian sparrowhawks and domestic cats. Despite a small population decline in much of its European range, the bird's breeding distribution is expanding northwards in Scandinavia. (Full article...)

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