Lesser Whitethroat
Sylvia curruca
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilySylviidae (Sylviid Warblers and Allies)
- GenusSylvia (Sylvia Warblers)
- SpeciesSylvia curruca (Lesser Whitethroat)
About the Lesser Whitethroat
The lesser whitethroat (Curruca curruca) is a common and widespread Old World 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.
The lesser whitethroat was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Plitvice Lakes National Park
Blackcap
Sylvia atricapilla
Barred Warbler
Sylvia nisoria
Whitethroat
Sylvia communis
Chaffinch
Fringilla coelebs
Great Tit
Parus major
Eurasian Blackbird
Turdus merula
European Robin
Erithacus rubecula
Eurasian Nuthatch
Sitta europaea
Marsh Tit
Poecile palustris
Common Chiffchaff
Phylloscopus collybita
Song Thrush
Turdus philomelos
Grey Wagtail
Motacilla cinerea
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Lesser Whitethroat in Plitvice Lakes National Park?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Lesser Whitethroat sighting in Plitvice Lakes National Park, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Lesser Whitethroat in Plitvice Lakes National Park?
June has the highest sighting rate for Lesser Whitethroat in Plitvice Lakes National Park in our monthly data.