Lesser Whitethroat

Sylvia curruca

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sylviidae
Presence in the Strait: Vagrant
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Curruca zarcerilla

Photograph: hedera.baltica, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist

Length: 14 cm
Weight: 12 g

Presence in the Strait

Accidental. One adult bird ringed at Gibraltar on 24.10.95.

Identification

Grey-brown upperparts, brownish wings, grey crown and nape and darker ear coverts; pale underparts and dark legs. They breed in Central and Eastern Europe and migrate via Eastern Europe. Sylviidae Curruca Tomillera Curruca Zarcera Curruca Zarcerilla

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

33 %

Peak in April. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 10 December 2003
Latest record: 17 April 2023

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: Outside the Red List (not assessed)
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Sardinian Warbler13–13 cm · Resident
Eurasian Blackcap14–14 cm · Resident
Garden Warbler14–14 cm · Migrant
Dartford Warbler13–13 cm · Resident
Common Whitethroat14–14 cm · Seasonal

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sylviidae
GBIF taxon key: 11034996

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: hedera.baltica, CC BY-SA, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Lesser Whitethroat

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Gallery