Species group · Birds
Chiffchaffs
WAnimals has 4 species of chiffchaff, in the family Phylloscopidae.
- 4 species
- 1 family
- 53 countries
- 275 parks
- Weight
- 6 g – 12 g
- Length
- 10 cm – 13 cm
- Lifespan
- 5 – 10 years
Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 4.
All 4 species of chiffchaffs on WAnimals
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
Conservation status
4 Least Concern
No species documented in this group is genuinely at risk according to the IUCN, with the data available today.
Where they live
Recorded in 53 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
Where to see them
Did you know…?
It weighs 9 grams and crosses the Sahara twice a year.
From Willow Warbler
The populations that breed in the far east of Siberia travel more than twelve thousand kilometres to southern Africa twice a year, the longest migration of any bird weighing less than ten grams.
From Willow Warbler
It moults twice a year, which is exceptional among the leaf warblers: it renews its entire plumage on the breeding grounds and again on the wintering grounds, an enormous energy cost for such a small bird.
From Willow Warbler
It was recognised as a species of its own in the 1990s on the basis of its song: while the European common chiffchaff repeats a monotonous chiff-chaff, the Canarian bird gives a much richer and more varied phrase.
The subspecies of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura became extinct in the twentieth century, probably through the loss of the vegetation of those islands: today the species survives only on the western islands.
Its English name, chiffchaff, reproduces its song literally: a repeated, irregular "chiff-chaff" that is the surest way to identify it.
From Common Chiffchaff
It takes in up to a third of its own weight in insects every day.
From Common Chiffchaff
Ringing has revealed that males and females choose different habitats in winter.
From Common Chiffchaff