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Iberian Chiffchaff

Iberian Chiffchaff

Phylloscopus ibericus

Identify the Iberian Chiffchaff by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.

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The Iberian Chiffchaff is a small leaf warbler of south-western Europe and north-western Africa, treated as a separate species from the Common Chiffchaff since 2003. Slightly larger and cleaner-coloured than its relative, it is best identified by its song, which is more varied, typically ending in a rattling flourish. It breeds in Iberia, south-western France and northern Morocco and winters in West Africa south of the Sahara.

Did you know?

  • It was treated as a subspecies of the Common Chiffchaff until 2003.
  • It is the most divergent member of the chiffchaff complex.

Voice

Song
Call

About the species

Identification

Greenish-grey above and paler below, slightly paler and more olive-green than Common Chiffchaff, with a yellowish breast, a pale yellow supercilium, dark legs and a fairly short bill. It looks very like Common Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, so voice is the most important feature: the rattle at the end of the song and the downslurred calls separate it from Common Chiffchaff.

Family

Sylviidae

Size

Tiny (goldcrest)

Colours

brown, yellow, white, green

About the habitat

Humid deciduous woodland with rich undergrowth and, in the south of its range, riverside woods and thickets.

Diet

Mainly small insects and other invertebrates gleaned from foliage and twigs.

Behaviour

An active, restless forager moving through trees and shrubs, picking prey from foliage. The song mixes quick “chiff-chaff”-like notes with rattles and drawn-out whistles. It is migratory.

Sources

Photo: ferran pestaña, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iberian Chifchaff.jpg

Sound: Jochem verweij, XC794647, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://xeno-canto.org/794647

Sound: Sonothèque ADVL, XC918478, CC0 1.0 https://xeno-canto.org/918478

Text: Wikipedia (English) + GBIF regional observations + Wikipedia (Finnish), CC BY-SA 4.0; GBIF occurrence data; Wikipedia: CC BY-SA 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_chiffchaff

See also