Birds in History and Culture - Cetti's Warbler

Cetti's Warbler (RSPB)

Cetti's Warbler is another avian eponym which was named after Francesco Cetti (1726 - 1178).  Cetti was a Jesuit priest who lived and worked on the island of Sardinia.

Cetti made the best early natural history study of the island, the second volume of which was devoted to birds, including the rusty-coloured warbler which bears his name.

The Cetti's Warbler (pronounced chetty) is a small, rather nondescript, skulking bird which can prove very difficult to see. It usually makes its presence known with loud bursts of song and the first glimpse will probably be of a dark, rather stocky warbler with short wings and a full, rounded tail, diving for cover. It is one of the UK's most recent colonists, first breeding here in 1973.

Cetti's Warblers like reedbeds and damp areas close to wetlands such as at the Wigan Flashes and Leighton Moss RSPB.  They can be heard (and sometimes seen) all year round and they eat insects and larvae.