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Phylloscopus collybita
The Chiffchaff is a small, dumpy, 10–12 centimetres (4 in) long leaf warbler. The male weighs 7–8 grammes (0.28–0.31 oz), and the female 6–7 grammes (0.25–0.28 oz). The spring adult of the western nominate subspecies P. c. collybita has brown-washed dull green upperparts, off-white underparts becoming yellowish on the flanks, and a short whitish supercilium. It has dark legs, a fine dark bill, and short primary projection (extension of the flight feathers beyond the folded wing). As the plumage wears, it gets duller and browner, and the yellow on the flanks tends to be lost, but after the breeding season there is a prolonged complete moult before migration. The newly fledged juvenile is browner above than the adult, with yellow-white underparts, but moults about 10 weeks after acquiring its first plumage. After moulting, both the adult and the juvenile have brighter and greener upperparts and a paler supercilium
Highly unlikely to be a Willow Warbler at this time of the year, they should all be much further south. Anyway, it appears to have the shorter wings of the Chiffchaff, of which there are so many its difficult to avoid them!
Very similar birds, but the Willow Warbler lacks the crescent under the eye and has a longer primary projection than Chiffchaff.
Spotted on Jan 9, 2012
Submitted on Jan 29, 2012
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