When do whitethroats arrive in and leave the UK?

A summer visitor in the records: sightings jump in mid April and fall away after mid September.

When do whitethroats arrive in the UK?

In the GBIF records, UK sightings of the common whitethroat rise sharply from mid April and are near their peak by mid April.

When do whitethroats leave the UK?

UK sightings fall away after mid September.

Where do whitethroats go in winter?

From December to February the strongest signal in the effort-adjusted GBIF records is around Nigeria. The globe shows the whole winter range month by month.

Common whitethroat in the UK, month by month

Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY 4.0 only), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 216,266 UK records (occurrence search API, country=GB, weekly). Dates come from sightings, not a survey, so treat them as a guide.

See the common whitethroat migration on the 3D globe →

About the common whitethroat

The greater whitethroat or common whitethroat is a common and widespread Old World warbler which breeds throughout Europe and across much of temperate western Asia. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, and winters in tropical Africa, Arabia, and Pakistan.

From the Wikipedia article “Sylvia communis” (revision 1061012781), CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened at a sentence end. Winter/summer areas: country containing the monthly hotspot of effort-adjusted GBIF records, using Natural Earth boundaries (public domain).

Other UK summer visitors: see the full list with arrival and departure dates.