Sardinian Warbler Chicks ready to flee the Nest

The Sardinian Warbler (Sylvia melancocephala, Bufula Sewda) is one of the breeding birds that may be found in the Maltese Islands.
This little passerine bird, which weighs just about 19g, builds its nest hidden in low shrubs or bushes – in fact, within the site area of The Cliffs Interpretation Centre, there has been a nest with several chicks in a small shrub.
Whilst this active warbler is quite common in the Maltese Islands today, this bird was previously an uncommon winter visitor, and it has only been breeding in the Maltese Island for about 150 years. Nowadays, the bird breeds in southern Europe till Turkey and in North Africa.
The breeding season of this warbler is from February to August, with clutches of between 3 to 5 eggs. Males and females are very different in colour, but both share building the nest, incubation and feeding the chicks. After hatching, the young take about 13 days to fledge and they still depend on their parents for the first couple of weeks.