Lesser Whitethroat

The lesser whitethroat is a typical warbler, belonging to the sylviidae family. This family also includes sparrow-sized birds that eat insects and reside in habitats with tall vegetation, such as woods or copses. What they all have in common is their pleasantly noticeable voices and impressive song. Warblers are lively and hectic birds, hopping and flying with twitchy movements of their tails and wings. Indeed they are easier to hear than see. The lesser whitethroat is the smallest amongst the indigenous whitethroats. They prefer open breeding grounds, such as glades, parks, cemeteries, gardens and fields with ample hedgerows. A typical summer visitor, arriving in April and leaving by September, they spend the winter in North East Africa. Lesser whitethroats are rarely spotted. However, if one manages to see one, it will be small, solidly built, sporting a short tail and bill. Both sexes have the same colourings: the upperparts are a grey brown while the crown and tail are rather more grey in tone and the ear patches are even darker still. The legs are dark grey. Its German name ” Klappergrasmücke” (literally: "rattle grasshopper") is a reference to its characteristic rattle-like vocalisations and in some regions it goes by the nickname “Müllerchen” (a small mill), referring to the rattling noise made by a water mill.