Cornish Biodiversity Network  -  Supporting Wildlife Recording

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Cornish Red Data (2009)

The descriptive text, below the map, is from the Cornish Red Data Book (2009). The map on this web page depicts the organisms distribution and shows the records made pre-2000 and those made since.

Cettia cetti - Cetti's Warbler



Range & Status

Europe and west Asia; in Britain and Ireland colonised southern England, with first breeding record in 1972; now (1990s) fluctuates between 200 and 350 pairs.

Regional Distribution

Cornwall: first recorded in 1973, now a very localised resident, with some dispersal in autumn and winter. Numbers fluctuate, with peak highs in 1984 (11 sites, some 15 singing birds) and 1993 (12 sites, some 30 singing birds). The main sites are Marazion (nine in song, with a further 27 trapped, in 1985), Gunwalloe (six in song 1991) and Par (five in song 1993). Isles of Scilly: absent.

Habitat & Ecology

Prime habitat is reed-beds with ditches and scrubby cover, i.e. Willows Salix spp. and ditches bordered by Bramble Rubus fruticosus agg. Males are polygamous; therefore the potential for population explosions is good.

Threats

Severe cold spells in winter has created population crashes in south-east England.

Conservation

Main sites are SSSI. Listed (long list) as a globally threatened/declining species (BSGR, 1995).

Source:

I.J. Bennallick, S. Board, C.N. French, P.A. Gainey, C. Neil, R. Parslow, A. Spalding and P.E. Tompsett. eds. 2009. Red Data Book for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. 2nd Edition.Croceago Press.

The Cornish Red Data Book Project was led by the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Federation for Biological Recorders (CISFBR). The full text and species accounts (minus the maps) are available on the CISFBR website.