The Lesser Whitethroat is a slightly smaller version of its cousin, the Whitethroat. They arrive here in April and return to Africa in autumn. Lesser Whitethroats are most likely to be heard around woodland and scrub with their distinctive, single-note, rattling "tet, tet, tet" call.
Lesser Whitethroats have plain greyish upperparts, white underparts, a white throat and a grey head with a darker 'bandit mask' through the eyes. Unlike most warblers, the male and female are almost identical.
Like his cousin, the Lesser Whitethroat mainly eats insects such as beetles, flies, ants, midges, and caterpillars. Before migrating, they change their diet to berries to build up fat stores for the long flight ahead.
Lesser Whitethroats begin breeding almost as soon as they arrive. The male builds several incomplete 'cock nests' in low hawthorn scrub or brambles. The female chooses one and together they turn it into a deep cup-shaped nest made of twigs, grasses and lined with hair. Mum lays 4-5 eggs which hatch after 12 days with dad helping to incubate them. The youngsters stay in the nest for another 12 days before fledging. If there is a good food supply, they will raise two broods.
There are about 75,000 territories in Britain and numbers have remained stable. Their main threat is the overuse of insecticides, reducing the availability of insects for food. The Lesser Whitethroat is rather slow in setting off back to Africa, hanging around until September while finishing their moult. When they do set off, they take a scenic route and stop off for a brief break in Italy on the way.
Their Latin name is 'curruca curruca' where 'curruca' is the Latin word for an unidentified bird mentioned by the Roman poet Juvenal. The English name comes from its obvious white throat. They are also locally known as a 'Hazel Linnet'.