
Photo: (c) Константин Селивёрстов, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY
Locustella naevia
Habitat
Nest on or near the ground in thick vegetation or a grass tussock
Clutch size
4–7 eggs
Size
About 12.5–13cm
Weight
11.5–16g
The common grasshopper warbler is a medium-sized warbler 12.5–13 cm long and 11.5–16 g. The adult has a streaked brown back and whitish-grey underparts, unstreaked except on the undertail coverts, with pale olive-brown upperparts, each feather with a darker central streak, and slender pale yellowish-brown legs and feet. The sexes are identical, but young birds are yellower below. It breeds across much of temperate Europe and the western Palearctic (Wikipedia, general species account).
The song that names it is a mechanical, grasshopper-like reeling, often at dawn or dusk, a long high-pitched trill delivered with the bill wide open and the whole body vibrating. It is secretive and hard to see, but easily detected by song. Both sexes build the nest (Wikipedia, general species account).