The Grasshopper Warbler, as its name suggests, sounds like an incredibly loud grasshopper. This secretive bird is more often heard than seen, skulking and creeping in the undergrowth after it arrives in April from north and west Africa.
Grasshopper Warblers are rather nondescript brown/buff-coloured birds, heavily streaked with dark marks on their backs. They have pale underparts with some spotting on their breast and a faint eye streak behind the eye. Juveniles are brighter and more yellow. Identification is easiest from their song - a high, insect-like, reeling call.
Like most warblers, the Grasshopper Warbler feeds on insects and other invertebrates such as moths, beetles, aphids, dragonflies, mayflies, spiders, caterpillars and woodlice. It picks its food from the ground or off vegetation.
The male Grasshopper Warbler attracts a female by walking or running along the ground with his tail spread and fluttering his wings above his back while carrying grass or a leaf in his beak. Both mum and dad build the cup-shaped nest in thick vegetation on or near the ground. Mum lays 4-7 eggs which hatch after 14 days. The youngsters are fed by both parents and can fly 13 days later. They will usually have two broods.
Sadly, a dramatic population decline has made the Grasshopper Warbler a Red Listed species. The decline is mainly due to habitat loss, both here and in Africa. An estimated 16,000 pairs come here in spring.
Their Latin name is 'locustella naevia' where 'locustella' is Latin for a grasshopper (and also locust) and 'naevia' is Latin for 'spotted '.