Curruca curruca
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Mass
~10 g
Habitat
Shrublands
Diet
Insects and invertebrates
How to recognize it
The Lesser Whitethroat is small and rather plain, with a muted brownish look and a dark line through the eye. In leafy cover it is easy to miss, so the quickest clue is often just a brief movement between branches.
It keeps low, stays hidden, and does not make a fuss. Its song is fast and dry, built from repeated “tet” and “che” notes that sound like a short rattle from the thicket.
It uses places with bushes, hedges, woodland edges, and open woods with undergrowth, and it can also turn up in gardens and vegetable plots. It feeds on spiders, insects, larvae, snails, and berries, arrives in Europe in spring, and leaves for Central Africa in winter.
Quick Facts
Listen to the call
The Lesser Whitethroat is small and rather plain, with a muted brownish look and a dark line through the eye. In leafy cover it is easy to miss, so the quickest clue is often just a brief movement between branches.
It keeps low, stays hidden, and does not make a fuss. Its song is fast and dry, built from repeated “tet” and “che” notes that sound like a short rattle from the thicket.
It uses places with bushes, hedges, woodland edges, and open woods with undergrowth, and it can also turn up in gardens and vegetable plots. It feeds on spiders, insects, larvae, snails, and berries, arrives in Europe in spring, and leaves for Central Africa in winter.
