Bird Album
Common Whitethroat
Curruca communis (Latham, 1787)
≈14 cmLength20 cmWingspan15 gWeight
The male has a gray head, white throat, brown upperparts and buff underparts.
Busiest months: May · Most records: United Kingdom, Israel, Spain
How to identify
Field marks
- Male has a gray head and white throat
- Upperparts mainly brown
- Buff underparts
- Chestnut edges to the secondaries
Male, female and young
The male has a gray head and white throat; the female lacks a gray head and has a darker throat.
Voice
A harsh, slightly nasal “wed-wed” or “woid-woid”; the alarm call is a drawn-out, harsh “tschehr”.
Where and when it's recorded
Busiest months: May · Most records: United Kingdom, Israel, Spain
Common Whitethroat has been recorded at 1,494 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 106 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
Where it's recorded most
- Jerusalem Bird ObservatoryIsrael2,568 records
- Minsmere RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom2,342 records
- Amwell HMWT NRUnited Kingdom2,115 records
More places
- International Birding and Research Center Eilat (IBRCE)Israel1,796 records
- Spurn Bird Observatory Recording AreaUnited Kingdom1,779 records
- Beddington FarmlandsUnited Kingdom1,544 records
- South Downs NP – Pulborough Brooks RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom1,443 records
- Rainham Marshes RSPB Reserve, SSSI and LNRUnited Kingdom1,387 records
- Wanstead FlatsUnited Kingdom1,312 records
- Bempton Cliffs RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom1,254 records
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The greater whitethroat or common whitethroat (Curruca communis) is a common and widespread Old World warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Common Whitethroat?
The Common Whitethroat is about ≈14 cm long, with a wingspan of 20 cm and weighs around 15 g.
Where does the Common Whitethroat live?
Its breeding range: Palearctic: widespread. It is most often recorded in United Kingdom, Israel and Spain.
When is the best time to see the Common Whitethroat?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in May (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Common Whitethroat endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Common Whitethroat as Least Concern.
What does the Common Whitethroat eat?
Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.
What family is the Common Whitethroat in?
It belongs to the family Sylviid Babblers (Sylviidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).
At a glance
- Length
- ≈14 cm
- Wingspan
- 20 cm
- Weight
- 15 g
- Habitat
- Shrubland
- Diet
- Insects & other invertebrates
- Lifestyle
- Perches in trees
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation
- Least Concern
More measurements
- Wing
- 73 mm
- Tail
- 63 mm
- Bill
- 14 mm
- Tarsus
- 21 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Palearctic: widespread
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Passerines Passeriformes
- Family
- Sylviid Babblers Sylviidae
- Genus
- Curruca
Other birds in the genus Curruca
Barred WarblerCurruca nisoria
Layard's WarblerCurruca layardi
Banded ParisomaCurruca boehmi
Chestnut-vented WarblerCurruca subcoerulea
Lesser WhitethroatCurruca curruca
Brown ParisomaCurruca lugens
Yemen WarblerCurruca buryi
Arabian WarblerCurruca leucomelaena
Western Orphean WarblerCurruca hortensis
Eastern Orphean WarblerCurruca crassirostris
African Desert WarblerCurruca deserti
Asian Desert WarblerCurruca nana
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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Andreas Trepte. ↗
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