Cyprus warbler
Curruca melanothorax (Tristram, 1872)
The cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax) is a species in the family Sylviidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 11.3 g to 11.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Quick facts about the cyprus warbler
- Weight
- 11.4 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.31 – 4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the cyprus warbler live?
Not recorded
What is the cyprus warbler?
The Cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax) is a warbler species in the family Sylviidae which breeds only on Cyprus. This small passerine bird is a short-distance migrant, and winters in Israel, Jordan and Egypt.
The Cyprus warbler was first formally described in 1872 by the English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and ornithologist Henry Baker Tristram with its type locality given as En-Gedi in Palestine. It was formerly classified in the genus Sylvia but this genus is split into two distinctive clades, and most of the species formerly classified in Sylvia were move to the genus Curruca.
Like most Curruca species, it has distinct male and female plumages. The adult male is a small warbler with a grey back, black head, white malar streaks ("moustaches"), and underparts heavily streaked with black. The female is mainly grey above, with a greyer head, and whitish with only light spotting. The Cyprus warbler's song is fast and rattling, and is similar to that of the Sardinian warbler.
The Cyprus warbler is in the group of Curruca warblers centred on the Mediterranean and is most closely related to Tristram's warbler and Menetries's warbler, and less closely to the Eastern subalpine warbler, Sardinian warbler and Rüppell's warbler. Both these groups have a white malar area, but this may not form a clear streak in the latter group; above the white, the heads of males are uniformly dark.
This is a bird of dry open country, often on hill slopes, with bushes for nesting. The nest is built in low shrub or gorse, and 3–5 eggs are laid. Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries.
From the Wikipedia article “Cyprus warbler” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cyprus_warbler&oldid=1359675237), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the cyprus warbler endangered?
The cyprus warbler is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the cyprus warbler classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familySylviidae
- genusCurruca
- SpeciesCurruca melanothorax (Tristram, 1872)
Synonyms Sylvia melanocephala melanothorax, Sylvia melanothorax
Other names and names in other languages (52)
- هازجة قبرصيةArabic
- Кіпрская лескаBelarusian
- Кипърско коприварчеBulgarian
- Devedig-KiprenezBreton
- tallarol de XipreCatalan
- pěnice kyperskáCzech
- telor CyprusWelsh
- CypernsangerDanish
- Cypern-sangerDanish
- CyperngrasmückeGerman
- SchuppengrasmückeGerman
- Τσιροβάκος της ΚύπρουGreek
- Cipra silvioEsperanto
- kipra silvioEsperanto
- Curruca chipriotaSpanish
- küprose põõsalindEstonian
- kyproksenkerttuFinnish
- Fauvette de ChypreFrench
- Fauvette du ChypreFrench
- Sypryske hagekrûperWestern Frisian
- Ceolaire cipireachIrish
- Papuxa de ChipreGalician
- סבכי קפריסאיHebrew
- ciparska grmušaCroatian
- ciprusi poszátaHungarian
- KýpursöngvariIcelandic
- Occhiocotto di CiproItalian
- Ochiocotto di CiproItalian
- キプロスムシクイJapanese
- კვიპროსული ასპუჭაკაGeorgian
- raibakrūtė devynbalsėLithuanian
- Kipras ķauķisLatvian
- Кипарско грмушарчеMacedonian
- CyprusgrasmusDutch
- kyprossangerNorwegian
- pokrzewka cypryjskaPolish
- toutinegra-cipriotaPortuguese
- toutinegra-de-chiprePortuguese
- Toutinegra-do-chiprePortuguese
- Fustgetta da CipraRomansh
- Silvie cu piept negruRomanian
- Кипрская славкаRussian
- KyprosavizarNorthern Sami
- penica škvrnitáSlovak
- ciprska penicaSlovenian
- Kiparska grmušaSerbian
- cypernsångareSwedish
- Kıbrıs ÖtleğeniTurkish
- кропив’янка кіпрськаUkrainian
- 塞浦路斯林莺Chinese
- 塞浦路斯林鶯Chinese
- 賽普勒斯林鶯Chinese
Relatives of the cyprus warbler
Other species in the same genus Curruca.

Common whitethroat
Curruca communis

Lesser whitethroat
Curruca curruca

Barred warbler
Curruca nisoria

Eastern subalpine warbler
Curruca cantillans

Sardinian warbler
Curruca melanocephala

Asian desert warbler
Curruca nana
CompareCyprus warbler vs Common whitethroatCyprus warbler vs Lesser whitethroatCyprus warbler vs Barred warblerCyprus warbler vs Eastern subalpine warbler
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the cyprus warbler?
An adult cyprus warbler weighs 11.4 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the cyprus warbler endangered?
The cyprus warbler is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the cyprus warbler?
The cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax) belongs to the family Sylviidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/cyprus-warbler
“Cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/cyprus-warbler.
@misc{cyprus_warbler_2026,
title = {Cyprus warbler (Curruca melanothorax)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/cyprus-warbler},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}