Best time to see: Apr to mid Sep

Key facts

An olive-brown warbler with a distinctive cascading song

A wide variety of wooded habitats, including large gardens, hedges, woods and commons

Widespread and common summer visitor.

Recognition

Olive-brown above with a well-marked eyebrow, buffy below, pale legs; 11cm

Flits about in vegetation, feeding mainly on insects such as caterpillars, gnats and midges

Song is a sweet cadence lisping down the scale Play

Lifecycle

Courtship includes slow-motion display flights

Nest is a dome of moss and grasses lined with feathers, well hidden on the ground

1 or 2 broods April to June; 6–7 white eggs, speckled reddish