Menetries's Warbler

Sylvia mystacea

(S. m. mystacea)

Armenian Name:	Սպիտակաբեղ շահրիկ

See Plate 50 for Menetries's Warbler and other similar species

Resident Status:	Breeding bird
Abundance:	Common
Length:	13.5 cm, Wing Span:15-19 cm
Distribution Map:	Map 286.
Description:	Small restless warbler with long dark tail and pale legs. Male: gray upperparts and pale pink underparts. Head shows black crown and face, reddish eye with paler red eyering, and white stripe below ear coverts. Female is yellow-brown tinted with gray above, paler below and has a white eyering.
Similar Species:	Greater Whitethroat, Lesser Whitethroat, Garden Warbler.
Behavior:	Constantly waves tail. Alarm call is a churring rattle.
Habitat:	Semidesert, arid mountain steppe.
Food:	Invertebrates, fruit, seeds.
Nest:	Cup of dry grasses, sage, rootlets, horsehair in shrub.
Eggs:	17 mm, 4-5, white to pale olive, brown spots.