Greater Whitethroat

Alternative name: Common Whitethroat

Photo by Marc Delsalle

Sylvia communis

Identification

Large Sylvia Warbler 13-15cm
Pale legs and pale bill
Adult male has grey head, white eye-ring and white throat.
Female has brownish head with off-white throat

Confusion Species

Photo by IanF
Billingham, UK

Lesser Whitethroat

Distribution

They breed throught Europe and most of Asia (including China and India, also most of the [[Middle East.

Migratory, U.K. birds wintering south of the Sahara

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 4 sbspecies^[1]:

• S. c. communis :

• Western Europe and Scandinavia to North Africa; winters to northern Africa

• S. c. volgensis:

• Eastern Europe to western Siberia

Photo by targetman
Lincolnshire, UK, May 2014

• S. c. icterops:

• Western Siberia to Iran and Asia Minor; winters to eastern Africa

• S. c. rubicola:

• North-western China and western Mongolia to Kazakstan; winters to southern Africa

Habitat

Scrubland and hedgerows are favoured.

Behaviour

Diet

Their diet consists almost entirely of insects and invertebrates.

Vocalisation

<flashmp3>Sylvia communis (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

References

1. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved September 2014)

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Greater Whitethroat. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 18 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Greater_Whitethroat

External Links

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