Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Phylloscopidae Genus: Phylloscopus Species: P. collybita
	It can be difficult to tell a chiffchaff from a willow warbler by sight alone, but the chiffchaff's far-carrying song gives it away. Two notes are uttered in random order: one a high-pitched 'chiff' Or 'tsip', the other a lower 'chaff' or 'tsap'. After 15 seconds or so the bird seems to fall silent, but in the intervals between songs it often gives a soft, chirring call that is audible only at close range. Unlike the willow warbler, it likes to sing from high in a tree. One of the hardier migratory warblers, the chiffchaff flies south for the winter two or three weeks later than the willow warbler, and usually returns a fortnight or so earlier. Most head for Africa, although some go only as far as southern Europe and a very few winter in south-west England.

Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Phylloscopidae Genus: Phylloscopus Species: P. trochilus
	Filling the summer countryside with its sweetly wistful song, the willow warbler is the most widely distributed of all the birds that visit Britain in the breeding season. Almost any area of woodland or shrubs is suitable - the bird has no special prefer­ ence for willow - as long as the foliage does not form a closed canopy. The total British Isles population is probably more than three million pairs. When its cadence of soft, liquid notes can no longer be heard, early in autumn, this determined little bird has started its annual 2,500 mile (4,000 km) journey to tropical and southern Africa. The wear and tear of this taxing migration may account for the willow warbler's curious distinction among British birds: it moults completely, replacing all its plumage, twice a year. Even its close relative the chiffchaff moults only once. Nevertheless the willow warbler is able to produce two broods in most breeding seasons, while the chiffchaff manages only one. The domed nest with its side opening usually contains six eggs, white with pinkish or reddish-brown speckles. The hen alone incubates them, taking about 13 days, but the male helps in feeding the chicks during the 13 days they spend in the nest.

Wood Warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Phylloscopidae Genus: Phylloscopus Species: P. sibilatrix
	Unlike many warblers, the wood warbler has a name which accurately pinpoints its habitat - it confines itself to woodlands, especially those of sessile oak in western Britain, but occasional­ly also woods of beech, birch or pine. Flitting about in the tops of trees hunting insects, the bird betrays its presence with an unforgettable song, in two phases. The first is a series of single notes, which accelerate into a trill; this lasts about four seconds and is repeated regularly. Interspersed with it is the second phase of the song: a series of plaintive 'pew-pew-pew' notes, growing gradually fainter. This elusive, handsome bird has yellowish-green upperparts and a sulphur-yellow breast and throat. It is noticeably bigger than the willow warbler or the chiffchaff. Wood warblers arrive from equatorial Africa late in April and usually raise one brood of six to seven young before departing between late July and early September. The female builds the nest, a cup of dead leaves, bracken and grass placed on the ground with a domed roof and side entrance. The male does not help with nest-building, but he does help in feeding the young with insects.

Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae Genus: Sylvia Species: S. borin
	From the middle of April, open woodlands, copses, thickets and areas of bushy undergrowth are enriched with the melodic song of the garden warbler, a sombre-plumaged summer visitor from tropical and southern Africa. Despite its name, this shy bird does not visit gardens unless there are tangled hedges or bramble thickets where it can breed undisturbed. In appearance, the garden warbler is notably lacking in distinctive features. It is pale buff below and darker brown above with no speckles, streaks, eye-stripes or wing-bars. The nest is built in thick cover, often in a fork and usually at a lower level than the blackcap's. Male and female build it to­gether, using grass stems and some heavier material such as twigs. The cup is lined with finer grass, roots and, if available,hair. The normal clutch of eggs is four or five, and after 11 or 12 days sitting the naked young are hatched. It takes a further nine or ten days of parental care before they can leave the nest, and when their tails have reached full length they look very much like their parents. Adult garden warblers distract predators threatening their young by spreading their tails and fluttering their wings, in a display similar to that of a courting male.

Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae Genus: Acrocephalus Species: A. schoenobaenus
	One of many species that have benefited from the increase in young forestry plantations is the sedge warbler. It adapts well to their dense, rank vegetation, although it is traditionally a bird of damper areas such as osiers or reed-beds; it also occurs some­ times in standing crops. Its attractive song, occasionally performed at night, is simi­lar to the reed warbler's but more varied - a continuous and hurried series of notes, some chattering, some musical, each variant usually being repeated several times. Its own song is interspersed with accurate mimicry of other birds' songs. Although more widespread than the reed warbler, this elu­sive bird is hard to spot, as it hides itself in low vegetation, hunting insects; and when it does emerge it darts straight to the next patch of cover. But its identity will be revealed by even a brief glimpse. Its colour is creamier than the reed warbler's, with bold streaks of darker colour on the back and wings and a prominent, creamy stripe above each eye. Usually five or six eggs are laid in a nest hidden low down in dense vegetation. The young, which hatch after about two weeks, are fed on small insects such as crane-flies, midges, beetles and dragonflies.

Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Acrocephalidae Genus: Acrocephalus
	Beds of the common reed are the favourite haunt of reed warblers, although they can also be found among osiers and occasionally in other dense vegetation or bushes near water. Their song is a flow of 'churr-churr-churr .... chirruc-chirruc­ chirruc' notes. Fairly common in East Anglia and south-eastern England, the reed warbler becomes much rarer away from this area. It is absent from Ireland, Scotland and most of Wales and much of northern and south-western England, despite the existence in these areas of plenty of common reeds and the accompanying marsh insects which are the bird's normal food. The reed warbler's nest is a beautifully woven cup, slung between several reed stems and built extra deep to prevent the eggs or young from being tossed out in high winds. The reed warbler is a favourite victim of the cuckoo, which removes one of the three to five eggs, replacing it with one of its own. Like its relatives, the sedge warbler and marsh warbler, the reed warbler undertakes a long migration each year from Europe to spend the winter in tropical and southern Africa, where it moults before its next flight to the reed beds of the north.

Grasshopper Warbler (Locustella naevia)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae Genus: Locustella Species: L. naevia
	A watcher could be forgiven for thinking that the high-pitched whirr that comes from an expanse of tangled grass, bushes and brambles is being produced by some tiny machine. In fact the source of the sound is probably the grasshopper warbler, so named because its song resembles the sound made by some grasshoppers. An attempt to catch sight of the songster, how­ ever, is likely to be defeated by its 'voice-throwing' as it turns its head from side to side, and by its shy skulking habits. The species arrives from winter quarters in north and west Africa between late April and the third week of May. The concealed, cup-shaped nest, approached from one way only, contains usually six creamy eggs, each so thickly speckled with fine purplish-brown spots as to appear dark. Male and female both incubate the eggs, which hatch after two weeks. Nestlings spend 10-12 days in the nest, fed by both parents. Appetising morsels for grasshopper warblers are small insects and beetles, or spiders and woodlice. The nestlings also receive such succulent items as green caterpillars and aphids. By early August some birds will be flying south again, and by the end of September nearly all will have gone.

Whitethroat (Sylvia communis)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae Genus: Sylvia Species: S. communis
	Until 1968, a feature of the British summer was the brief, musical song of the male whitethroat, the commonest member of the warbler family. It would be delivered from the depths of a wild rose bush or overgrown hawthorn hedge, from the top of a shrub or telephone wire, or during a short, 'dancing' song flight before the bird dropped back into the cover of roadside bram­bles, hedge-parsley or nettles. Then suddenly, in the spring of 1969, many birdwatchers found themselves waiting in vain for the spring arrival of this jaunty little summer visitor from Central Africa. They were soon to learn that almost four-fifths had failed to put in an appearance, and by 1974 the population had further dwindled to one-sixth of the 1968 level. The cause was probably drought in the whitethroat's winter home just south of the Sahara. Even so, probably more than half a million breeding pairs still visit Britain. The breeding season begins with the male courting the female by dashing at her and swerving away at the last moment. He builds several nests, one of which may eventually be used. It is a deep cup of dead grasses and roots, lined with hair. Usually, two clutches of four or five eggs are laid.

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae Genus: Sylvia Species: S. atricapilla
	Unless he can spot the characteristic jet-black crown, a bird­ watcher may have difficulty in distinguishing the blackcap from the garden warbler. Both are shy, live in thick cover and greet the intruder with a loud, scolding 'race-race' like two stones struck together. The blackcap's rich song, however, most often heard from March to July, is usually more variable in pitch. and delivered in shorter bursts. The blackcap nests in woods, tall hedgerows and gardens with plenty of brambles and briers. It can most typically be seen picking its way through the branches and stems, searching for insect food such as flies and caterpillars between bouts of singing. The nests, hidden in bushes or undergrowth. are neatly built but flimsy cups of dry grass and roots, lined with finer strands of grass, roots and hair. The four to six eggs are incubated by both parents for 10-14 days. Most blackcaps leave for tropical Africa in August or September; unlike garden warblers, blackcaps complete their moult before migrating. In recent years a few blackcaps have taken to braving the English winter, visiting bird-tables for food.

Dartford Warbler (Sylvia undata)
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Subclass: Neornithes Infraclass: Neognathae Superorder: Neoaves Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Infraorder: Passerida Superfamily: Sylvioidea Family: Sylviidae Genus: Sylvia Species: S. undata
	Unusual among British warblers in not migrating for the winter, the Dartford warbler runs the risk of starving to death in a period of severe frost, when it cannot find the insects and spiders on which it relies for food, Populations reduced by hard winters build up again in milder periods, but the heath areas that the bird can inhabit continue to shrink, Once spread throughout south­ern England, it is today rarely found outside Hampshire and Dorset. Even there the dry, lowland heaths that it needs, with mature heather and plentiful gorse, are disappearing because of tree planting, mineral exploitation or fire. A secretive bird, the Dartford warbler is most often glimp­sed darting between bushes. If it is surprised while perching, its long tail jauntily cocked and flicking, it scolds the intruder with a harsh rattling call before it vanishes into cover. Its song, however, is a mixture of liquid tones and chattering notes, sometimes uttered in a dancing flight, The compact cup-shaped nest is built 18 in. (45 cm) or so off the ground. Two clutches of grey-speckled white eggs, three or four each time, are laid in the same season, Chicks hatch in 12 days and leave the nest after a fortnight.