Wildlifeof India
Common Whitethroat
Warblers & Cisticolas
Photo: (c) Priya Sandhu, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY (May be cropped or resized)
Curruca communis
Basic stats
Diet
Insects, also berries and other soft fruit
Habitat
Open country and cultivation with bushes for nesting; nest in low shrub or brambles
Range
Breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia; winters in tropical Africa, Arabia and Pakistan
Clutch size
3–7 eggs
The common, or greater, whitethroat is a common and widespread Old World warbler with distinct male and female plumages. Both sexes are mainly brown above and buff below, with chestnut fringes to the secondaries; the adult male has a grey head and a white throat, while the female lacks the grey head and has a duller throat. It breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia (Wikipedia, general species account).
It is strongly migratory, wintering in tropical Africa, Arabia and Pakistan. The song is fast and scratchy with a scolding tone, and the hoarse, slightly nasal call sounds like wed-wed or woid-woid. Like most warblers it is insectivorous but also eats berries and other soft fruit, and the nest is built in low shrub or brambles with three to seven eggs. SoIB 2023 lists it as a passage migrant of open habitat that eats invertebrates, without a priority category (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).
Quick answers
- What does the Common Whitethroat eat?
- Insects, also berries and other soft fruit
- What habitat does the Common Whitethroat live in?
- Open country and cultivation with bushes for nesting; nest in low shrub or brambles
- Where is the Common Whitethroat found?
- Breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia; winters in tropical Africa, Arabia and Pakistan
- How many eggs does the Common Whitethroat lay?
- 3–7 eggs