Alternative name: Eurasian Chiffchaff
- Phylloscopus collybita
Includes: Siberian Chiffchaff
Identification
10-12 cm (4-4¾ in)
- Greenish olive-brown upperparts
- Off-white underpart
- Yellowish flanks
- Short white supercilium
- Fine dark bill and legs - but beware of recording willow warbler's legs as dark when they are in shadow.
- Constantly dips tail when moving around in foliage.
Confusion Species
See this discussion thread for differences between Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler.
Distribution
Breeds thoughout much of Europe and Asia, wintering in south and west Europe, southern Asia and northern Africa. Very patchy distribution in Scotland.
Photo by Alok Tewari
Basai Wetlands, Gurgaon, Haryana, India, January-2018
Taxonomy
The Canary Islands Chiffchaff and the Iberian Chiffchaff have been considered conspecific with this species.
Subspecies
Six subspecies are recognized:[1]
- P. c. abietinus:
- Scandinavia to Urals, Caucasus, Transcaucasia and northern Iran
- P. c. collybita:
- P. c. brevirostris:
- Highlands of western Turkey and Black Sea coastlands of northern Turkey
- P. c. caucasicus:
- East of range of brevirostris at lower elevations south to Armenia
- P. c. menzbieri:
- P. c. tristis:
Tristis is sometimes accepted as full species, called Siberian Chiffchaff.
Habitat
Open woodlands, tall trees are required for singing in the breeding season. Low shrubs, brambles etc for nesting.
Behaviour
Flicks tail, downwards (this habit is not seen in Willow Warbler).
Breeding
The female builds a domed nest with a side entrance, made from dead leaves and grass. Two to seven cream eggs with reddish-purple or blackish spots, are laid and incubated by the female for 13–14 days; the female cares for the young for about two weeks until they fledge.
Diet
The diet includes insects.
Vocalisation
Song: the most reliable way to distinguish from Willow Warbler. It sings its name chiff chaff, chiff chaff, though sometimes mixes up to chiff chiff, chaff, chaff.
Call: a soft wheett
It sounds at first like a tristis but is much too downslurred and not flat enough.
Recording by Andrew Whitehouse
Nigg Bay, Aberdeen, Scotland, November 2016
More information about this recording can be found in this post
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Birdforum thread discussing finer points of identification between Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler
- Collins Pocket Guide to British Birds 1966
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
- Collins Bird Guide ISBN 0 00 219728 6
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Common Chiffchaff. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 20 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Common_Chiffchaff
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
