Urban birds at Hull. 47. Sedge Warbler

The Sedge Warbler are a striking small bird of warm brown tones, and contrasting head pattern, with a strongly marked pale stripe over the eye, dark eye line a darn crown and white throat. They are often noted by their fast and furious song, containing raspy notes and mimicry of other birds calls. They start singing low in bushes and they increasingly speed up and start climbing up, and they continue singing through a short flight before diving into the vegetation. As they sing, their mouth glows an intense red. A confusion species, Reed Warbler, has a repetitive, slow cadence in comparison. Sedge Warblers are summer migrants that arrive in Hull at the end of April and settle in scrubby corners, reedbeds, riverbanks and wetlands with plenty of marginal vegetation.

4 May 2015, Noddle Hill.

At Kingswood, 29 April 2024.

East Carr, 10/05/2021.

Status and distribution in Hull

Sedge Warblers are scarce summer migrants in Hull. During migration they can turn in any scrubby sites, but they will settle to breed more locally. The best place is Noddle Hill, but other sites include the urban stretches of the river Hull north of Sutton Bridge, East Carr and some scrubby areas by Barmston Drain amongst others. They appear less common than Reed Warblers.

A Sedge Warbler singing by the River Hull at Kingswood. 6 July 2021.

Conservation

The Sedge Warbler was moved from Green to Amber in 2021 due to severe long-term population declines, as other long-distance migrants. Populations have suffered a 38% population decline between 1967 and 2022, although there has been some fluctuations. Much of the population change appears to be driven by rainfall in their wintering grounds, on the West African Sahel, affecting adult survival, rather than breeding success the previous year. Continuous survival in Hull depends on the management of marginal habitat along the river and drains, and the maintenance of scrubby habitats.

More information

Broughton, RK 2002 Birds of the Hull area. 

BTO Birdfacts. Sedge Warbler.