The spectacled warbler 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".
Region
Mediterranean Basin and Macaronesia
Typical Environment
Breeds widely around the Mediterranean from Iberia and southern France through Italy, the Balkans, and parts of North Africa, with populations on several Atlantic islands such as the Canary Islands. It favors dry, open landscapes with scattered low shrubs, garrigue, and maquis. In winter many continental birds move to North Africa and nearby regions with similar scrub. It avoids dense forests, preferring edges, fallow fields with bushes, coastal dunes, and semi-arid steppe with scattered cover.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 1800 m
Climate Zone
Subtropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A small, active warbler of dry, shrubby habitats, the spectacled warbler gets its name from the pale eye-ring that forms a ‘spectacled’ look. Males show a contrasting grey head and white throat in the breeding season. It performs fluttering song-flights over low scrub. Formerly placed in Sylvia, it is now in the genus Curruca.
Eggs of Curruca conspicillata MHNT
Temperament
skulking but active
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with fluttering display flights
Social Behavior
Typically breeds in solitary pairs holding small territories in low scrub. The nest is a neat cup placed low in a bush or tussock, with 3–5 eggs laid per clutch. Both parents participate in feeding, and they can raise more than one brood in favorable seasons.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
A quick, scratchy warble with rattling phrases, delivered from a perch or during a brief fluttering song-flight. Calls include dry tacks and soft churring notes.
Plumage
Male shows a grey head with a clean white throat, warm rufous-brown upperparts, and buffy flanks; female and immature birds are browner and duller with less contrast. Fine, sleek feathers with minimal streaking give a smooth appearance. The pale, well-defined eye-ring creates the characteristic ‘spectacles’. Subtle chestnut tones can appear in the wing coverts.
Diet
Feeds mainly on small insects and other invertebrates such as beetles, caterpillars, spiders, and aphids. It gleans prey from low shrubs and grasses and will sally out briefly to take flying insects. Outside the breeding season it may also take small berries when insects are scarce.
Preferred Environment
Forages within low, sparse shrubs, thorny bushes, and grass-tussock edges in open country. Frequently uses field margins, fallow land with scattered cover, and coastal scrub and dunes.
