What do you call a flock of W arblers? a chorus? o r a W arble?

Over centuries people have given names, sometimes called collective nouns, to groups or flocks of birds.

A murder of crows. A gaggle of geese. A charm of goldfinches (my favourite). But the question I ask about warblers is a wee bit tongue in cheek because we seldom see them in flocks. Yes, they must ‘flock together’ to some extent when they fly here every spring from southern Europe or Africa and return in late summer, but, at least while they’re here to breed, they live separate, territorial lives.

There are many warbler species, but I’m only going to cover the three most common, those you’re most likely to hear, chiffchaff, willow warbler and blackcap. And when I say ‘hear’ rather than ‘see’, that’s because they’re very good at not being seen. They’re small, and particularly chiffchaff and willow warbler plumage is a mix of muted green, brown and yellow, enough to fade into the foliage of the woodland where they live. Even blackcaps, which, yes, do have a black cap (females have a brown one) are hard to spot. But their songs and calls are, for me, the essential sounds of spring when trees are in leaf. Of course, I love the songs of robins, blackbirds and thrushes, often performed where we can see them, but warblers are something else, their songs and calls echoing through woodland and waterside scrub as they proclaim their territory and seek females to join them. I particularly love the chiffchaff song, even if it’s just pretty much a repetition of its name…chiffchaff, chiffchaff…because it carries such a long way. The willow warbler’s song is much more ‘musical’, a trilling descent, repeated over and over. But the star is the blackcap, with a melodious song which is the reason for its alternative name, the nightingale of the north.

If you want to listen to their songs, they are available at https://www. british-birdsongs.uk/ alphabetical/. Better still, get out into the countryside this spring and listen to them ‘live’.

JVA