Common Whitethroat

• GeneralIt sings on a short climbing flight above the brambles.
• Its courtship is among the most persistent of any Iberian bird: the male chases the female offering her a blade of grass in his bill, she attacks him, he backs off and comes at it again until she accepts him.
• On sunny days it is bold and shows itself on top of the bushes, but in cloudy or wet weather it becomes extremely secretive.
• A colour-ringing study in Nigeria showed that it returns to the same wintering area year after year, moving on average only 300 m.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

Hedges, bramble patches and thorny scrub

Gestation / incubation

11-12 days, with both sexes taking turns. The chicks fledge at 10-12 days and stay with their parents for another 15-20

Litter / clutch size

1-7 eggs (usually 4 or 5), white to greenish with diffuse speckling, with two possible clutches between May and July. The nest is built by the male

Sources consulted: SEO/BirdLife (ficha y III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España); IUCN Red List; Asturnatura; Aparicio 2022, III Atlas; Aparicio 2014, Enciclopedia Virtual de los Vertebrados Españoles (MNCN-CSIC); Shirihai et al. 2001; Tapia-Harris y Cresswell 2022, Ecology and Evolution 12

Best time: From April to September; the male sings from prominent perches and also in flight, and is far less skulking than other warblers