21

Common Whitethroat (Sylvia communis) Alternate name(s): "Greater Whitethroat" German name(s): "Dorngrasmücke" Size: 13-15 cm; wing span 18.5-23 cm Body mass: 12-21 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.13-0.15/0.20-0.22 (lean/fat)

Europe: Family Group 21 Family Group 21 Table European Pied Flycatcher Collared Flycatcher Semicollared Flycatcher Spotted Flycatcher Red-breasted Flycatcher Lesser Whitethroat Common Whitethroat Western Orphean Warbler Western Subalpine Warbler Dartford Warbler Sardinian Warbler Barred Warbler Eurasian Blackcap Garden 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 Whitethroats are small insectivore birds. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Male Common Whitethroats have a grey head (frons, cap, sides) and a brownish-grey nape and mantle. The rump is light-grey, the tail is grey. Their most prominent feature is a large white chin patch, below which the breast is pinkish-brown. The belly, vent and undertail coverts are buff to off-white. The wing feathers are near-black with broad brown edges. Males have narrow white eye-rings, which are less prominent in females. In general, female Common Whitethroats have duller colours. In particular, they miss the males' grey head and are more brownish-grey instead. The irises of both sexes are reddish-ochre to yellow-brown. The bill is dark-grey, with a lighter, yellowish base of the lower mandible. The legs and feet are yellow. Juveniles resemble females.

Taxonomy, classification See Common Whitethroat at Wikipedia .

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 Whitethroat is available HERE . Common Whitethroats are a strongly migratory species, of which there are four established races. Altogether, they breed in large parts of Europe, near-coastal north-western Africa, Asia Minor, the Tigris/Euphrates river system and eastwards into western and central Asia. They avoid the highest altitude areas of major mountain ranges within that range. At the end of the breeding season they migrate southwards, via the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and temperate western and central Asia, to spend the northern winters in sub-Saharan central Africa, Arabia or Pakistan. In Europe Common Whitethroats are found as breeding migrants from the British Isles and parts of Iberia in the West towards the Urals (and beyond) in the East, and from the entire North coast of the Mediterranean to southern Scandinavia and the Baltic states in the North, but not the northern-most parts of European Russia. Most of their range in Europe is occupied by nominate race "communis". Race "volgensis" is found from far eastern Poland eastward. In the far South-east, e.g. around the Bosporus and the Caucasus, race "icterops" can be found. Common Whitethroats have a preference for dense shrubs, but will also use farmland with hedgerows and other more open habitats with shrubs for nesting.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "communis" D. Wilczynska reports spotting Common Whitethroats, nominate race "communis, in Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, in May 2016. A. Sarok reports finding a Common Whitethroat, race "communis, 5 km North of Temerin, Vojvodina, Serbia, in May 2016. Others were found in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024. J. Pires found Common Whitethroats, race "communis, along the Sorraia River and also in Mora, Evora, and in Sagres, Algarve, Portugal in the timeframe September/October 2019. G. Normand found a Common Whitethroat, race "communis, 20 km North of Lille, Hauts-de-France, France, in May 2020. H. Dahlem-Senger reports finding a Common Whitethroat, race "communis, near Eltville, Hessen, Germany, in May 2021.

Photos

Race "communis"

ADULT

MALE

Frontal/ventral view of a male Common Whitethroat singing in the top of a shrub - note the white eye-ring; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 9 May 2016 (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Near-lateral view of a male Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

Lateral view of a male Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[5 km North of Temerin, Serbia, May 2016]

Lateral view of a male Common Whitethroat searching for prey (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female Common Whitethroat - note the plain face, with a white eye-ring (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Frontal/ventral view of a female Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Near-frontal/ventral view of a female Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Ostrow Mazowiecka, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Lateral view of a female Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Lateral view of a female Common Whitethroat; the distinction between the sexes was made by behaviour, rather than physical appearance (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Lateral view of a Common Whitethroat; the worn plumage suggests that this bird is a female, rather than a juvenile
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, October 2019]

Dorsal view of a female Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Dorsal/ventral view of a female or immature Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, near Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Near-frontal view of a female or juvenile Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Lateral view of a female or juvenile Common Whitethroat (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

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.

wthroat_dw_20160602.m4a	(Poland)	Territorial call (male)	© DW
wthroat_dw_20160602_2.m4a	(Poland)	Territorial calls (male)	© DW
wthroat_dw_20200614.m4a	(Poland)	Territorial calls (male)	© DW
wthroat_jp_20201024.m4a	(Portugal)	?	© JP

More Common Whitethroat 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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