Chiffchaff
Phylloscopus collybita
A small leaf warbler whose song is its name - chiff, chaff, etc. In fact there are some races which sing different songs but these are likely soon to be separated as new species after DNA work.
A small greenish-greyish-brownish-olive bird showing different colours from different areas (or even the same). Some are yellowish underneath and all have a distinct supercilium. Southern birds are resident but many are trans-Saharan migrants. They occur almost all over Europe and into the former USSR as far East as North of Japan. All Eastern birds are migrants going down to East Africa or Northern India.
These are birds of woodland with reasonable undergrowth. They are early migrants and the sound of a Chiffchaff chiffing and chaffing means that spring is not far away. About 900,000 breeding territories in Britain and Ireland.
A nondescript little warbler of woodland.
Length 105 mm Closed wing 57 mm Weight 8 gms A Bird On! Sketch by Chris Mead
Copyright © 1996 by Jacobi Jayne & Company and Chris Mead