Callum Macgregor

A long-distance migrant passerine breeding from W Europe (though absent in SW Europe) to Central Asia; overwinters within a relatively narrow belt from E part of the sub-Saharan belt to S Arabia, N India (BirdLife International 2021). Largely insectivorous; less frugivorous than other similar species. 

Season of assessment

B

Population trendStable
Population size
(min-max, best estimate)		9750000-16700000,12600000
Red List categoryLC
Franks, S., Fiedler, W., Arizaga, J., Jiguet, F., Nikolov, B., van der Jeugd, Ambrosini, R, Aizpurua, O., Bairlein, F., Clark, J., Fattorini, N, Hammond, M., Higgins, D, Levering, H., Skellorn, W., Spina, F, Thorup, K. Walker, J., Woodward, I. and Baillie, S.R. (1) (2022) Online Atlas of the movements of European bird populations. https://migrationatlas.org EURING/CMS (1) Principal investigator
Map

Overall Connectivity for Lesser Whitethroat

There is a clear SE-NW axis of migration. However, connectivy is relatively weak as most European encounters converge in a farily narrow area in the E Mediterranean (including N Egypt). In autumn, fuelling before the Sahara is concentrated along the E coast of the Mediterranean (Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon; Fransson et al. 2005). There are few encounters in C Africa, so we can infer litlte from them. Encounters in SW Europe/NW Africa are rare, but may indicate some use of this flyway in autumn, possibly of birds drifting from the main flyway to SE Europe and the Middle East.

Recoveries by Condition for Lesser Whitethroat

Overall, most (~95%) of recoveries are of birds seen alive, mainly recaptures by ringers (~90%). However, before 1961 most recoveries were of birds found dead (including shot), sick or wounded (overall ~75%). This pattern changed during 1961-1990, when the percentage of birds found dead, sick or wounded fell to ~15%. From 1991 to present most recoveries (>94%) are of birds recaptured in ringing campaigns.

Annual Movements for Lesser Whitethroat

Autumn migration is evident in Aug, when some birds are already in the eastern Mediterranean. There are encounters in Africa Dec-Apr, although there are very few data for this region. Birds start to arrive on the breeding grounds in W/C Europe in Apr-May in Scandinavia. Passage through Israel in spring is negatively correlated with precipitation in the winter quarters in Feb, with higher levels of precipitation seemingly accelerating fat deposition and timing of spring migration (Aloni et al. 2017). Adults migrate earlier than juveniles (Zduniak & Yosef 2012).

Connectivity by Month by Region for Lesser Whitethroat

There is a similar pattern for all European populations; for details see ‘Annual movements’.

Juan Arizaga

References

Statistics Map
N records N individuals N recoveries
Mapped data*
Total available data
*Mapped data include only distant (>= 50 km) recoveries
References Map
Aloni, I., Markman, S., Ziv, Y.2017 . February precipitation in the wintering grounds of the lesser whitethroat, Sylvia curruca: is it a cue for migration onset?. Royal Society Open Science 4
BirdLife International 2021 . Species factsheet: Sylvia curruca.
Fransson, T., Jakobsson, S., Kullberg, C.2005 . Non-random distribution of ring recoveries from trans-Saharan migrants indicates species-specific stopover areas. Journal of Avian Biology 36: 6–11
Zduniak, P., Yosef, R.2012 . Crossing the desert barrier: Migration ecology of the Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) at Eilat, Israel. Journal of Arid Environments 77: 32–38

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