Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita - Family: Sylviidae

• Add to Pick List
• Back to search results

Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita
© Robin Chittenden www.harlequinpictures.co.uk

Chiffchaffs are small warblers with brownish-green plumage. They have few obvious features to distinguish them from the very similar willow warbler, other than dark legs. However, they can be easily identified by their song, from which the species takes both its English and the second part of its scientific name. "Collybita" is derived from a Greek word meaning "money-changer", the bird's call being thought to resemble the chinking of coins clashed together. Chiffchaffs sing persistently, generally from high perches from March onwards. They also have a soft call note - 'hooeet' - but so too, annoyingly for those trying to work out which species is which, do willow warblers!

Chiffchaffs are still principally summer visitors in England and are among the first migrants to arrive but the number of individuals overwintering in this country is increasing steadily. Some of these spend the cold weather near human settlements, and any very small greenish bird moving quickly through garden vegetation in winter is likely to prove to be a chiffchaff. Willow warblers always migrate south in winter. Both species may turn up in gardens in the autumn, often among the soft fruit or fruit trees.

Chiffchaffs nest low down, often among brambles or other thick herbage. The nest is a rounded structure, with a side entrance. Chiffchaffs breed from April to June. They are generally quiet during the summer but often start calling again in late summer and may even be heard in early October.

Food

During the breeding season, chiffchaffs feed almost exclusively on foliage-living insects, such as bugs, froghoppers, spiders and harvestmen, flies, beetles and sawflies. Otherwise, they may take fruits; and fat and peanuts from feeders.

Plants

Bramble, Michaelmas daisy

Prey

Aphids, Beetles, Bugs, Flies, Froghoppers and leafhoppers, Mosquitoes and midges, Moths, Sawflies, Spiders and harvestmen, Weevils

Predators

Sparrowhawk