The gray-brown songbird is slightly smaller than a sparrow. But he’s recognizable from afar thanks to his outstanding singing, as Birdlife wrote in a statement Thursday. It spins and whistles especially at dusk and at night. And imitates the sounds of other bird species.
In the case of some swamp warblers, imitations of more than 200 different bird species have already been identified. Not only is it limited to native bird species, it also features sounds from southeast Africa, the birds it overhears in its winter quarters, and migratory birds.
The swamp warbler returns from Africa, where it overwintered, from mid to late May. As such, Switzerland is one of the last to arrive in the bird world. Twice a year, it travels approximately 10,000 kilometers on its flight routes.
But the swamp warbler’s habitat is getting smaller and smaller. Over 90 percent of the wetlands in Switzerland have been dried up and destroyed in the last 150 years, Birdlife continues. Outside of protected areas, this bird finds almost no suitable breeding grounds.
(SDA)