The Furze Wren

There are some birds which I remember clearly seeing for the very first time. When I was a child I recall being taken to see Hen Harriers displaying near their nesting site in Northern Ireland. Being so young, I was amazed at seeing such large birds of prey. Since moving to Spain I have seen many more new species and my first encounters with them often remain clear in my mind. In Huelva I saw my first Osprey sitting by the water's edge. This was a bird I had spent years looking for in Northern Ireland and to finally see it, even in the distance, provoked a feeling of great excitement. Another, is the first time I saw bee-eaters. Driving along a country road near Cordoba, my attention was caught by these amazingly colourful birds swooping in the air as they caught their prey. I immediately pulled the car over to the side of the road to watch them and listen to their distinctive call. I remember thinking how exotic they looked compared to the birds I was used to seeing back home. Now, like for many people in Spain, their arrival marks the beginning of spring and warmer weather. I remember these experiences so vividly because they were birds that I had being trying to see for a long time. However, there is one first sighting which I remember for different reasons. In fact, when I first saw this bird I didn't even know of its existence.  

  

I was at the Mirador (viewpoint) in Villafranca near Cordoba watching raptors during spring migration. During a lull in birds passing overhead, one of the Spanish birdwatchers pointed out a bird in the gorse. Each time I tried to get on it with my binoculars it would hide itself deep in the shrubs or dart to another patch of vegetation. Its distinctive rattling call was almost teasing me. However, my persistence paid off and after a while I got a good view of it perched on top of heather. It had a blueish grey head and back, and red wine coloured underparts. This was a color I had not seen on any other bird and the throat was spotted with white. Its red eye-ring was also clearly visible. The Spanish birdwatcher identified it as a Curruca Rabilarga. The direct translation would be a long-tailed warbler. However, searching for it in my field guide I found the name Dartford Warbler, quite different from the more apt Spanish name.  

  

Many birds are named after where they live such as House Sparrows, Marsh Harriers and Barn Owls. Others, like the Dartford Warbler are named after certain areas. We have the Mediterranean Gull, Canada Goose, and Iberian Magpie. But I soon learned that the name Dartford Warbler is a misnomer as they don’t in fact live there. The first official recording of the species was in 1773 by an ornithologist named John Latham who shot a pair of them on Bexley Heath. He then decided to name them after the nearby town of Dartford. Interestingly, he also discovered two other species (Kentish Plover and Sandwich Tern) whose names have the same origin- the county of Kent. Maybe an old folk name for the Dartford Warbler, the Furze Wren, is better suited- furze meaning gorse. Or we could use Long-tailed Warbler like the Spanish. However, its current name gives us an insight into the interesting story of how this species was first documented.  

Dartford Warber

Southern England marks the northern edge of their breeding range, which stretches south to north-west Africa. They are relatively localised in England and are vulnerable to harsh winters, nearly dying out completely in the winter of 1962-63. In Spain they are much more common, with 1.7-3 million breeding pairs. It is largely resident, although some local migration occurs with birds abandoning colder mountainous areas in winter. 

They are insectivores, feeding on caterpillars, butterflies, beetles and spiders. Here in southern Spain they lay their eggs around the beginning of April and can raise two or even three broods a year.  

While the species appears to be benefiting from warmer winters in northern Europe, there is evidence to suggest that numbers on the Iberian peninsula are falling. Habitat loss could be a cause of this and as a result the species is now listed as 'near threatened' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). 

They are a reasonably common sighting for me now around Cordoba, especially in the Sierra Morena and the Sierra Subbética. However, every time I see this warbler my mind is cast back to that first encounter.