The whitethroat is a medium-sized, long-tailed warbler of grassland, scrub and hedgerows. It is a summer visitor and passage migrant, breeding in many areas, but avoiding urban and mountainous places. Males whitethroats build nests out of twigs and roots and the females then decide which to take. whitethroats winter in Africa, leaving our shores in early October and heading as far as South Africa.
How to identify
Male whitethroats are sandy-grey above, with pale grey heads, pinkish-buff breasts and bright white throats. Females are duller. They are larger than lesser whitethroats, have longer tails, and sport rusty-brown edges to their wing feathers.
Did you know?
Male whitethroats arrive in the UK about 10 days earlier than females in order to set up territories before their potential partners arrive.
