Grasshopper Warbler Locustella naevia
Breeding distribution 2007–2012
Local and decreasing summer visitor, breeds Europe, winters Africa
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Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2013
Atlas species lists
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More Grasshopper Warbler maps
- Breeding distribution 1995–2000
- Summer abundance 1995–2000
- Winter distribution 1995–2000
- Winter abundance 1995–2000
- Breeding distribution 2007–2012
- Summer abundance 2007–2012
- Winter distribution 2007–2012
- Winter abundance 2007–2012
- Breeding distribution change
- Summer abundance change
- Winter distribution change
- Winter abundance change
More maps for this atlas
Map explanation
This map shows the breeding season distribution of the species in Wiltshire as revealed by the shared fieldwork for Bird Atlas 2007-2011 (BTO 2013) and for Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2007-2012.
Key
Status
Nos tetrads
Present
10
1%
Possible breeding
40
4%
Probable breeding
18
2%
Confirmed breeding
6
1%
Total
74
8%
Grasshopper Warblers breed across Eurasia from northernmost Spain, France, the north Balkans and the Caucasus, north to Ireland, Britain and southern Fenno-Scandia and thence eastwards across Russia to Siberia and Mongolia. They winter in sub-Saharan Africa,
In Great Britain they are widely distributed, being absent only from Shetland, the Outer Hebrides and upland areas in mainland Scotland and northern England. Their numbers are however thinning out as much of their preferred habitat (young conifer plantations, rough grassland, downland scrub, damp and boggy areas) has been cleared or drained. Bird Atlas 2007-2011 recorded a reduction of 11% in the number of occupied 10km squares in Britain since the 1968-72 Breeding Atlas, most of the decrease occurring in south, central and northeast England, partly offset by increases in Wales, southeast Scotland and, especially, in Ireland.
In Wiltshire in the 19th century they were described as widespread but in small numbers. In the mid 20th century they were said to be regular but uncommon, nesting in some river valleys and young plantations. Birds of Wiltshire recorded them in 90 tetrads, with breeding probable or confirmed in 33 of them. WTA2 recorded them in 74 tetrads with breeding in 24. Both atlases showed that nesting was mainly confined to Salisbury Plain, with smaller clusters in the valleys of the rivers Ray and Kennet. An RSPB survey carried out on Salisbury Plain in 2000 estimated a total of 264 Grasshopper Warbler territories there, roughly 2.5% of the total British population, though a later recalculation reckoned that this figure was too high and that the total Wiltshire population was between 150 and 275 pairs.
References
The following references are used throughout these species’ accounts, in the abbreviated form given in quotation marks:
“1968-72 Breeding Atlas” – Sharrack, J.T.R. 1976: The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1981-84 Winter Atlas” – Lack, P.C. 1986: The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland. T. & A. Poyser
“1988-91 Breeding Atlas” – Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. & Chapman, R.A. 1993: The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland 1988-91. T. & A. Poyser
“Birds of Wiltshire” – Ferguson-Lees, I.J. et al. 2007: Birds of Wiltshire, published by the tetrad atlas group of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society after mapping fieldwork 1995-2000. Wiltshire Ornithological Society.
“Bird Atlas 2007-2011”-– Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. and Fuller, R.J. 2013: The Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland. BTO Books.
“WTA2” – ("Wiltshire Tetrad Atlas 2 ") the present electronic publication, bringing together the Wiltshire data from “Birds of Wiltshire” and “Bird Atlas 2007-11”, together with data from further fieldwork carried out in 2011 and 2012.
"Hobby" - the annual bird report of the Wiltshire Ornithological Society.