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In the end we agreed with BWP and assume it is unattached males that produce pre-dawn song. Cetti’s Warblers in Britain can’t really sustain living along a river all year and have to retreat to reed beds to winter. We assume that in reed beds territories are soon filled, and males can even afford multiple females, whereas at the edges of linear territories males may actually need to put in some effort to attract a mate.  Even if that conclusion is wrong we do know that pre-dawn song is not exclusive to Cyprus and so not as important as we first thought.

Before I go, I’ve asked Magnus to choose examples of some of the other sounds of Cetti’s Warbler for you to hear. It’s amazing how many of them were in the recordings he made of that conflict sequence on Mallorca in 2003. One of those was recording 1 above. Here is another recording from the same situation.

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8)     Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti Parc Natural S’Albufera, Mallorca, Spain, 5 April 2003 (Magnus Robb). Song duel of two males, with soft hui calls presumably given by an unseen female. Background: Eurasian Coot Fulica atra and Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis. 03.008.MR.12312.00T

These two males really pulled out all the stops. For a start, we can hear both of the song types I have already mentioned: loud strophes normally delivered at a rate of about two per minute, and a shorter more chattering strophes delivered with much shorter gaps, quite often before dawn in the morning. The first strophes in the above recording (8) are of this second type. At 0:23, there is a rattling sound, similar to a call that can often be heard separately. Here is an example of a pair of Cetti’s Warblers in the Netherlands (9), where the rattle was almost certainly being given by a female, followed by a song from the male. Then another example where a rattle is delivered in isolation (10).

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9) Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti Napoleonhoeve, Zeeland, Netherlands, 15 April 2006 (Magnus Robb). Rattle of a female, followed by song of a male. Background: Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna and Common Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita. 06.007.MR.04715.01

10) Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti Napoleonhoeve, Leziria Grande, Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, 18:26, 14 April 2019 (Magnus Robb). A single loud rattle. Background: House Sparrow Passer domesticus. 190414.MR.182615.01

According to Cramp (1992), both sexes make this rattle, but females perhaps more often. Cramp also mentions another call type that is commonly given by females in the presence of males, a soft hui. You could also hear it in recording 8, and here it is on its own.

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11)    Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti Parc Natural S’Albufera, Mallorca, Spain, 5 April 2003 (Magnus Robb). Soft hui calls of a female. 03.008.MR.12312.20T

Perhaps the commonest call of Cetti’s Warbler throughout the year is a rather hard plek. In winter, this is often the only way to detect one’s presence. It differs from similar calls of Savi’s Warbler Locustella luscinioides in being lower-pitched with a slight hint of a spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos.

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12)    Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti Herdade da Alfaróbia, Elvas, Portugal, 10:25, 16 June 2019 (Magnus Robb). Plek calls at close range. Background: Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla. 190616.MR.102520.01

There is a rather sparrow-like chink in the repertoire of Cetti’s Warbler that is normally heard in the context of song. Here however is a sequence where a bird used this call without any other song-like sounds before or after. It could easily be mistaken for a sparrow Passer.

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13)    Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti Parc Natural S’Albufera, Mallorca, Spain, 06:00 10 April 2002 (Mark Constantine). A series of chink calls used outside the usual context of song. 008.MC.10230.11T

It has taken me 28 years, and hours spent listening to and recording Cetti’s to content myself, and yet I still think Cetti's have more sound secrets. I suspect that the reason they have such an array of calls is that the females may use them to show who is the dominant and who the supplicant in their complex web of relationships. As a consequence, Cetti’s Warbler is one of those species that not only has an abundance of calls but that uses them throughout the year.

Listen to this plastic song of an immature bird in November. It includes more Savi’s Warbler-like versions of the plek call, as well as some very high-pitched almost bunting Emberiza-like squeaks.

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14) Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti Leziria Grande, Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal, 10:56, 13 November 2018 (Magnus Robb). Plastic song, presumably from a first winter male. Various less commonly heard calls are embedded within this sequence. 181113.MR.105646.21



Yesterday my friends Jeff and Geri called us on Facetime us to chat about the birds he hears on his daily walks from his house by the river, as he tries to photograph them. We talked of the Common Chiffchaffs Phylloscopus collybita singing everywhere, and how to tell the difference between Eurasian Reed Warbler Acrocephalus scirpaceus song and Sedge Warbler's A schoenobaenus. I knew Cetti's breed there but Jeff hadn’t noticed them. Shows that even if you shout, you don’t always get heard.

 

Constantine & The Sound Approach 2006. The Sound Approach to birding. Poole.

Cramp, S 1992 (ed). The birds of the Western Palearctic. 6. Oxford.

Dooling, R 2004. Audition: can birds hear everything they sing? In: Marler, P & Slabbekoorn, H (eds). Nature’s Music. The science of birdsong. New York.

Bibby, C  J 1982. Polygyny and breeding ecology of the Cetti’s Warbler Cettia cetti. Ibis 124: 288-301.

Kroodsma, D 2005. The singing life of birds. Boston.

North, M & Simms, E 1958. Witherby’s Sound Guide. Book re-issued in 1969 with two 33rpm records. London.

Osment, J 2018. The Road to Pelindaba. Poole.

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