Common whitethroat

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Common whitethroat
Song

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sylviidae
Genus: Curruca
Species:
C. communis
Binomial name
Curruca communis
(Latham, 1787)
Range of C. communis
  Breeding
  Passage
  Non-breeding
Synonyms

Sylvia communis Latham, 1787
Sylvia cinerea Bechstein 1803[2]

The common whitethroat or greater whitethroat (Curruca communis) is a common and widespread

Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan
.

Taxonomy

The English ornithologist

binomial name Sylvia communis in the supplement to this work which was published in 1787.[3][4] The specific communis is Latin for "common".[5] The common whitethroat is now placed in the genus Curruca that was introduced by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1802.[6][7]

This species may appear to be closely related to the

sister species.[10]

Four subspecies are recognised:[7]

  • C. c. communis (Latham, 1787) – breeds in Europe to north Turkey and north Africa; winters in west and central Africa
  • C. c. volgensis (Domaniewski, 1915) – breeds in southeast European Russia, west Siberia and north Kazakhstan; winters in east and south Africa
  • C. c. icterops (Ménétries, 1832) – breeds in central Turkey to Turkmenistan and Iran; winters in east and south Africa
  • C. c. rubicola (Stresemann, 1928) – breeds in mountains of central Asia; winters in east and south Africa

Description

This is one of several Curruca species that has distinct male and female

remiges
. The adult male has a grey head and a white throat. The female lacks the grey head, and the throat is duller.

The whitethroat's song is fast and scratchy, with a scolding tone. The hoarse, slightly nasal, call sounds like wed-wed or woid-woid. The warning cry is long-pulled, rough tschehr which resembles that of the Dartford warbler.

Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
Female with chicks
MHNT

Distribution and habitat

This is a

insectivorous, but will also eat berries and other soft fruit
.

In Europe, western and eastern populations of common whitethroats have contrasting moulting and pre-migratory fueling strategies to capitalise on food supplies before departing their breeding and non-breeding grounds.[11]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22716910A264551677.en
    . Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  2. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1986). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 11. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. pp. 273–274.
  3. ^ Latham, John (1783). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 2, Part 1. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. pp. 428–429.
  4. ^ Latham, John (1787). Supplement to the General Synopsis of Birds. London: Printed for Leigh & Sotheby. p. 287.
  5. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  6. ^ Bechstein, Johann Matthäus (1802). Ornithologisches Taschenbuch von und für Deutschland, oder, Kurze Beschreibung aller Vögel Deutschlands für Liebhaber dieses Theils der Naturgeschichte (in German). Leipzig: Carl Friedrich Enoch Richter. p. 165.
  7. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (July 2025). "Sylviid babblers, parrotbills, white-eyes"
    . IOC World Bird List Version 15.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  8. ISBN 0-691-08833-0
  9. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2008.01005.x
    .
  10. PMID 21672229
    .
  11. hdl:2263/68189
    .

Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Curruca communis.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_whitethroat&oldid=1299227576"