Whitethroat

Whithroat are summer visitors, and are in the same family as Blackcap and Garden Warbler. They are mostly seen on the cliffs, sitting up on blackthorn or gorse taking a keen interest in what is going on around them.

The photo above is poor but is the only one I have which shows the white throat and the bird in a typical pose. It is one of the Sylvia warblers, which to my mind would indicate that its typical habitat is woodland. In Guernsey, they are most often seen on the cliffs or scrubby areas of the coast. Of course, they are more easily seen here rather than in the hedgerows and wooded valleys. I’m usually first attracted by their scatchy song, but they are not hard to see and like to be out on a branch or a gorse bush to see what’s going on nearby. They frequently flick their tail as they hunt for insects, darting about among bushes.

It is refreshing to record that they are green listed so are a species of least concern as their breeding numbers are holding up well. The Whitethroat population crashed in the late 1960s, because of drought in Africa, and numbers have never recovered fully. As with some other warblers, their diet changes according to the season: insects which are plelntiful during the breeding season but then in autumn, they change over to fruit and berries.

Typically, they start to arrive from their wintering grounds in tropical and southern Africa, in April. The date of their first arrival is gradually getting earlier which is probably linked to climate change. 2021’s first sighting on 4 April (by Dave Spicer) was exceptionally early. Most birds start their autumn migration in October, with some sightings in early November.

It is a medium sized warbler, with a long tail, grey head and white throat. Some of the wing feathers have broad light rufous brown fringes which show well in the photo above. Also visible is the white eye-ring which is a distinguishing feature.