Leaf warblers | Phylloscopidae

Boszangers | Mosquiteros

These are small, slender birds in plain olive, grey and brown tones, with a thin pointed bill, a pale eyebrow stripe and, in some, one or two pale wingbars; male and female look alike. The species resemble one another so closely that in the field they are separated mainly by sound: each has its own, usually simply built song and a characteristic call, while the differences in plumage come down to the length of the eyebrow stripe and the colour of the legs and lower mandible. Foraging is restless, in the outer foliage, where minute insects and aphids are picked from the undersides of leaves. The nest stands on or just above the ground and is domed, with the entrance in one side. Migration runs for thousands of kilometres to tropical wintering grounds, and it is on that long route that birds regularly end up far outside their usual range in autumn.