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17

Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) Alternate name(s): "Chiffchaff" German name(s): "Zilpzalp", "Weidenlaubsänger" Size: 10-11 cm; wing span 15-21 cm Weight: 5-11 g

Europe: Family Group 17 Family Group 17 Table Dunnock Alpine Accentor Goldcrest Common Firecrest Eurasian Wren Willow Warbler Common Chiffchaff Iberian Chiffchaff Wood Warbler Western Bonelli's Warbler Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Common Chiffchaffs are very small leaf warblers. Overall, their plumage is dominated by olive-greyish hues. The front is light-grey to light olive-grey, with some yellow patches interspersed irregularly. The crown, nape of the neck, back, rump and upperwing coverts are dark olive-grey. The flight feathers are dark-grey with narrow white leading edges. They have yellowish supercilia and olive-grey eye stripes. The irises are dark. The bill has a grey upper mandible and a horn-coloured lower mandible. The legs and feet are pale pinkish-grey. Juvenile birds have an entirely pale-yellowish front.

Taxonomy, classification See Common Chiffchaff at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information The Iberian Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus ibericus), the Canary Islands Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis) and the Mountain Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus sindianus) are no longer considered to be conspecific with the Common Chiffchaff.

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Common Chiffchaff is available HERE . There are 3 races of Common Chiffchaffs, which are a strongly migratory Eurasian species, part of which winter in Arabia and northern Africa. They are found as permanent residents only in parts of western and southern Europe (nominate race "collybita"). During the northern summers they extend their breeding range into the rest of Europe, except parts of Scandinavia, and into most of mid- to high-latitude Asia, southward of the Arctic circle, as far to the East as eastern Siberia. Part of the population also breeds in northern Turkey, around the Caucasus mountain range and along the southern coastal fringe of the Caspian Sea in northern Iran. The migratory populations spend the winters around the Mediterranean Sea (Iberia, parts of Italy, southern Greece, the Mediterranean islands), in northern Africa (around the Atlas mountain range, parts of the Libyan coastline, the Nile delta and sub-Saharan Africa, except the eastern coastal fringe), parts of Asia Minor (the western and southern coastal fringe), the near-coastal fringe of the Middle East and in parts of Arabia (mostly in near-coastal areas of southern Saudi Arabia and Yemen) and in southern Asia, from south-eastern Iraq, Kuwait through southern Iran into the south-eastern half of Pakstan, northern India and western Bangladesh. They can also occasionally be found in suitable habitats (oases, along temporarily running streams) in the Sahara desert and in the Arabian desert. Race "collybita" breeds in Europe, as far to the East as Poland and Bulgaria. This race mainly winters in the South of its breeding range around the Mediterranean and in North Africa. Race "abietinus" breeds in Scandinavia and northern Russia, and spends the northern winters in an area spanning from south-eastern Europe and north-eastern Africa eastwards to Iraq and western Iran. Race "tristis" breeds in Siberia to the East of the Pechora River and winters in the lower Himalayas, but is also sometimes found in Europe in winter. In Europe, Common Chiffchaffs, nominate race "collybita", are permanent residents along the coastline of southern England, of western and southern France (and the far north-eastern corner of Spain) and in most of lowland Italy, except the far South. Small numbers are resident in southern Ireland and England, in western France and in almost all of Italy, except the far South. During the breeding season, the breeding range is extended from all of the British Isles in the West nd all of Europe, except southern Greece and parts of Scandinavia (mostly the highest mountain ranges, parts of southern Sweden and the far North) into eastern Europe (and beyond). In most of Iberia (except the far north-eastern corner), far southern Italy, most of Greece and the Mediterranean islands they are found only as winter visitors. Common Chiffchaffs have a preference for open woodland with some trees and some undergrowth, including shrubs for nesting.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "collybita" J. Pires reports finding Common Chiffchaffs, nominate race "collybita", regularly during the winter months in various locations in southern/central Portugal. D. Wilczynska found a Common Chiffchaff, race "collybita", near Brok, Masovia, Poland, in August 2016. M. Eaton spotted a Common Chiffchaff, race "collybita", near Wadebridge, Cornwall, England, in September 2019.

Photos

Race "collybita"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a moulting Common Chiffchaff looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2023]

Near-frontal view of a wet Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Albufeira de Vilar, Sernancelhe, Viseu, Portugal, December 2019]

Near-frontal view of a Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, December 2017]

Near-lateral view of a moulting Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2023]

Near-lateral view of a Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Brok, Masovia, Poland, August 2016]

Lateral view of a Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2015]

Lateral view of a Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, , Portugal, October 2021]

Lateral view of a Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, November 2013]

Lateral view of a soaking wet Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2018]

Lateral view of a Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Bailao, Estremoz, Portugal, December 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2023]

Dorsal view of a Common Chiffchaff looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Raia river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2022]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of a juvenile Common Chiffchaff (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Palhais, Barrero, Portugal, January 2018]

Food, Diet

Lateral view of a Common Chiffchaff with its prey, a flying insect (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Raia river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2021]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Chiffchaff with its prey, a flying insect (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Vila Franca de Xira, Tejo estuary, , Portugal, October 2021]

Common Chiffchaff picking a fly off a concrete pillar (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, June 2015]

Common Chiffchaff looking for insects or taking nectar? (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2019]

Common Chiffchaff looking for insects or taking nectar? (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2019]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

chifchf_dw_20200927.m4a	collybita (Poland)	Contact calls(?)	© DW
chifchf_jp_20221230.mp3	collybita (Portugal)	Contact calls(?)	© JP
chifchf_jp_20230109.mp3	collybita (Portugal)	Territorial song(?)	© JP
chifchf_jp_20181202.m4a	collybita (Portugal)	Territorial song(?)	© JP
chifchf_jp_20200523.m4a	collybita (Portugal)	Territorial song(?) (+ others in bkgd)	© JP

More Common Chiffchaff sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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Disclaimer: Comments are always welcome. We give no guarantee that the information presented on these pages is always correct or up-to-date. External links are marked as such and we take no responsibility for the contents of external pages. All images on this site are protected by copyright & used by permission of the respective owners. If you wish to reproduce them or any of the material presented on this web site, please contact us: We hereby acknowledge the original custodians of the land which is described on these pages, including the Gomeroi/Gamilaraay people of the North-west Slopes and Plains of NSW, and the traditional owners of other lands and nations within this country. We acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty was never ceded.          Last updated: Tue, 16 May 2023, 6:22 +00:00