Cetti's Warbler
Cettia cetti
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Distribution Britain 86 (+1620%) Ireland 0
Numbers breeding: Britain 574 Ireland 0 European status: 700,000 (0% in Britain and Ireland) British population trend: new and still increasing How likely are you to record it? 9 squares (0.2%) Ranked 151= |
Unknown in Britain until 1961 this skulking (but very loud) resident warbler had rapidly spread north from its native Mediterranean sites. Breeding was established in Kent in 1972 and on Jersey in 1973. The colonisation of southern England continued apace but the population centre shifted to Hampshire and Dorset when cold winters virtually wiped out the eastern birds in the 1980s. South Wales was colonised in about 1980 and there was a singing bird in Anglesey in 1997. Kent has been re-colonised and the RBBP maximum has been over 300 for 1993-1997. The maximum was 593 (including Jersey) during a full census in 1996 when the top counties were Hampshire (maximum 143 singing males), Dorset (97), Devon (88) and Somerset (67). The species will still be vulnerable to very cold winters. These birds established themselves very quickly and look to be secure.
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead