Common Chiffchaff

The common chiffchaff is a common, widespread leaf warbler that breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic. It is greenish-brown above and off-white below, and named onomatopoeically for its simple chiff-chaff song. The spring adult of the western nominate subspecies has brown-washed dull green upperparts, off-white underparts becoming yellowish on the flanks and a short whitish eyebrow. A diagnostic tail movement, a dip then a sideways wag, gives it the name tailwagger in India (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is migratory, wintering in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa. The female builds a domed nest on or near the ground and takes most of the responsibility for brooding and feeding the chicks, while the male defends the territory and attacks potential predators, even a stoat. The newly fledged juvenile is browner above than the adult. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a winter migrant of non-specialised habitat with a Large range of about 936,000 km² and an inconclusive long-term trend of about −37% (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).