Lesser whitethroat

Lesser whitethroat
Nominate Curruca curruca curruca in Wrocław, Poland
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Sylviidae
Genus:	Curruca
Species:	C. curruca
Binomial name
Curruca curruca (Linnaeus, 1758)
Range of S. curruca (Compiled by: BirdLife International and Handbook of the Birds of the World (2019) 2018.)   Breeding   Resident   Passage   Non-breeding
Synonyms
Motacilla curruca L, 1758 Sylvia curruca (L, 1758) Curruca althaea (Hume, 1878) Curruca minula Hume, 1873

The lesser whitethroat (Curruca curruca) is a common and widespread typical warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in the western and central Palearctic. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, wintering in Africa just south of the Sahara, Arabia and India.

Unlike many sylviid warblers, the sexes are almost identical. This is a small species with a grey back, whitish underparts, a grey head with a darker "bandit mask" through the eyes and a white throat. It is slightly smaller than the common whitethroat, and lacks the chestnut wings and uniform head-face colour of that species. The lesser whitethroat's song is a fast and rattling sequence of tet or che calls, quite different from the common whitethroat's scolding song.

Like most "warblers", it is insectivorous, but will also take berries and other soft fruit. This is a bird of fairly open country and cultivation, with large bushes for nesting and some trees. The nest is built in low shrub or brambles, and 3 to 7 eggs are laid.