Chiffchaff

Chiffchaff

NL: Tjiftjaf
D: Zilpzalp
F: Pouillot véloce
 
Latin name: Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817)

Bird group: Warblers

Sound: Shout ‘whoet’. Sing monotonously ‘tjif tjaf tjif tjaf’. Iberian Chiffchaff has more varied vocals, beginning and ending with short ‘tit’ calls and extended ‘tswie phrases’.

Field characteristics: 11 cm. Sexes alike. Small, mainly greenish or brownish warbler without clear features. Different (sub)species are distinguished in the area, which mainly differ in color, but sometimes also in sound. Most common subspecies, collybita, has olive colored upper parts, beige-yellow breast and flanks and whitish belly. Flight feathers with greenish edges. Indistinct eyebrow stripe, beige or yellowish, darker eye stripe. Subspecies abietinus from Scandinavia grayer above and whiter below. Iberian Chiffchaff P. ibericus from the Iberian Peninsula is similar in plumage to collybita but has different song; is now considered a separate species. Legs always dark, sometimes almost black. Differs from Fitis by shorter wings, grayer and browner plumage, (usually) by dark legs, call and habit of regularly tugging wings and tail. Juvenile as adult, but often a bit more yellow or gray and more downy in appearance.

Appearance: Very common summer visitor. Overwinters in small numbers.

Habitat: Variety of habitats with trees and shrubs, such as parks, mixed and deciduous forests. Needs taller trees than Fitis.

Food: Mainly insects. Often forages on the ground.

Song/call: