Globe âș Birds âș Lesser whitethroat
Lesser whitethroat migration Curruca curruca
ⶠFollow the lesser whitethroat across the big globe
Press ⶠto play the year. Line: a simplified typical route, joining the main cluster of GBIF records in each month (adjusted for observer effort).
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| Scientific name | Curruca curruca |
|---|---|
| Wingspan | 18 cm |
| IUCN status | Least concern |
| Records mapped | 985,078 (GBIF) |
| GPS / geolocator tracks | none with an open licence yet |
Facts from Wikidata Q110257504 (CC0).
When does the lesser whitethroat arrive in the UK?
A summer visitor in the records: sightings jump in mid April and fall away after late September.
Bars: this speciesâ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 58,440 UK records. Weekly counts from the GBIF occurrence search API (country=GB). Dates are read from records, not from a survey, so treat them as a guide.
When do they arrive in and leave the UK? â
Migration in the data
985,078 GBIF records (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 licences only) are mapped here, in 1.41° grid cells, month by month.
In Europe and Africa, the centre of the records (adjusted for observer effort) is furthest north in June (about 53°N) and furthest south in January (about 23°N).
Month by month: centre of records in Europe and Africa
| Month | Centre (latitude) | South of the Equator |
|---|---|---|
| January | 23°N | 0% |
| February | 24°N | 0% |
| March | 30°N | 0% |
| April | 42°N | 0% |
| May | 51°N | 0% |
| June | 53°N | 0% |
| July | 53°N | 0% |
| August | 50°N | 0% |
| September | 44°N | 0% |
| October | 36°N | 0% |
| November | 26°N | 0% |
| December | 23°N | 0% |
Tracked birds
No openly licensed (CC0 / CC BY) tracking data package for this species was found in the Movebank Data Repository yet, so only records are shown.
About the lesser whitethroat
The lesser whitethroat is a common and widespread Old World warbler which breeds in temperate Europe, except the southwest, and in the western and central Palearctic. This small passerine bird is strongly migratory, wintering in Africa just south of the Sahara, Arabia and India.
From the Wikipedia article âLesser whitethroatâ (revision 1351805039), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources
GBIF occurrence records, licence CC0 1.0 or CC BY 4.0 only, observations only (no specimens), filtered with: taxonKey=2492960&license=CC0_1_0&license=CC_BY_4_0&occurrenceStatus=PRESENT&hasGeospatialIssue=false&basisOfRecord=HUMAN_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=MACHINE_OBSERVATION&basisOfRecord=OBSERVATION. Monthly queries: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec. GBIF.org (23 October 2026) occurrence data accessed via the GBIF API; a GBIF download DOI is still to be added. Contributing datasets.