Common chiffchaff
Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817)
The common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) is a bird in the family Phylloscopidae, order Passeriformes, grouped with songbirds and other perching birds. It is a tiny, migratory, perching bird of forest habitat, with an adult body mass of 8.3 g and a wingspan of 18 cm.
Quick facts about the common chiffchaff
It is an invertivore, placing it at the carnivore trophic level, and its geographic range covers 7,565,000 km². Its eggs are incubated for 14 days, it lays 5.5 eggs per clutch and 1.5 clutches per year, and it is listed as Least Concern, not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 7.1 g – 8.3 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 18 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 7.8 years – 8 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 14 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the common chiffchaff?
Photos of the common chiffchaff
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the common chiffchaff live?
Not recorded
What is the common chiffchaff?
The common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), or simply the chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and the Palearctic.
It is a migratory passerine which winters in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa. Greenish-brown above and off-white below, it is named onomatopoeically for its simple chiff-chaff song. It has a number of subspecies, some of which are now treated as full species. The female builds a domed nest on or near the ground, and assumes most of the responsibility for brooding and feeding the chicks, whilst the male has little involvement in nesting, but defends his territory against rivals, and attacks potential predators.
A small insectivorous bird, it is subject to predation by mammals, such as cats and mustelids, and birds, particularly hawks of the genus Accipiter. Its large range and population mean that its status is secure, although one subspecies is probably extinct.
From the Wikipedia article “Common chiffchaff” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_chiffchaff&oldid=1353214873), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
What does the common chiffchaff sound like?
Is the common chiffchaff endangered?
The common chiffchaff is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the common chiffchaff classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familyPhylloscopidae
- genusPhylloscopus
- SpeciesPhylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817)
Synonyms Ficedula fulvescens, Ficedula rufa, Motacilla lotharingica, Motacilla rufa, Phyllopneuste hippolais, Phyllopneuste pinetorum, Phyllopneuste rufa, Phyllopneuste solitaria, Phyllopneuste sylvestris, Phyllopseuste rufa, Phylloscopus collybita rufus, Phylloscopus lotharingicus, Phylloscopus rufus, Phylloscopus tristis altaiana, Regulus hippolais, Sylvia collybita, Sylvia hippolais, Sylvia loquax, Sylvia rufa, Sylvia rufa, Sylvia sylvestris, Sylvicola rufa, Trochilus minor, Trochilus rufa
Other names and names in other languages (92)
- ChiffchaffEnglish
- Woodland chiffchaffEnglish
- شفشافةArabic
- نقشارة شائعةArabic
- MosquetaAragonese
- pioyina hibernizaAsturian
- Теңкелдәк төйөтBashkir
- Пячураўка-ценькаўкаBelarusian
- Елов певецBulgarian
- Chip-ChapBreton
- Puig chip-chapBreton
- Ullet de BouCatalan
- mosquiter comúCatalan
- АмашкекMari
- ӓпшӓткекMari
- Тумлам кайӑкChuvash
- Тумлам кайăкĕChuvash
- budníček menšíCzech
- Siff-SaffWelsh
- siff-siaffWelsh
- Siff-SiaffodWelsh
- GransangerDanish
- ZilpzalpGerman
- WeidenlaubsängerGerman
- ΔεντροφυλλοσκόποςGreek
- ĈifĉafoEsperanto
- ordinara filoskopoEsperanto
- Mosquitero comúnSpanish
- SilksolkEstonian
- Väike-lehelindEstonian
- väike-lehelind e. silksolkEstonian
- Txio arruntBasque
- سسک چیفچافPersian
- سسک چیف چاف معمولیPersian
- tiltalttiFinnish
- grannljómariFaroese
- pouillot véloceFrench
- Tiuf-teafIrish
- CaifeanScottish Gaelic
- Picafollas europeoGalician
- BeeallereyManx
- עלווית חורףHebrew
- zviždakCroatian
- csilpcsalpfüzikeHungarian
- Ծնկլտան գեղգեղինArmenian
- ChifchafoIdo
- GransöngvariIcelandic
- Luì piccoloItalian
- チフチャフJapanese
- Asaflu aruradKabyle
- ЦӀужьомэлъэфӀыцӀэKabardian
- Саяшыл сарықасKazakh
- 검은다리솔새Korean
- ÇirçireKurdish
- Chyff-chaffCornish
- ZillzappLuxembourgish
- pilkoji pečialindaLithuanian
- čuņčiņšLatvian
- апшаткайыкMari
- Елов свиркачMacedonian
- обичен свиркачMacedonian
- ചിഫ്ചാഫ്Malayalam
- चिपचीपMarathi
- FibiernoMirandese
- चिप्चिपे फिस्टोNepali
- tjiftjafDutch
- gransongarNorwegian Nynorsk
- pierwiosnekPolish
- پدپدیWestern Panjabi
- felosa-comumPortuguese
- felosa-europeiaPortuguese
- FelosinhaPortuguese
- Felosinha-comumPortuguese
- Pitulice micăRomanian
- Пеночка-теньковкаRussian
- SkilkeskálkaNorthern Sami
- guossavizarNorthern Sami
- kolibiarik čipčavýSlovak
- vrbji kovačekSlovenian
- fishkëllyesi i vogëlAlbanian
- Obični zviždakSerbian
- Обични звиждакSerbian
- JiepekeSaterland Frisian
- gransångareSwedish
- นกกระจิ๊ดชิฟแชฟThai
- çıvgınTurkish
- Bayağı ÇıvgınTurkish
- вівчарик-коваликUkrainian
- Chích Á ÂuVietnamese
- 叽咋柳莺Chinese
- 叽喳柳莺Chinese
- 嘰喳柳鶯Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the common chiffchaff
Other species in the same genus Phylloscopus.
Willow warbler
Phylloscopus trochilus
Greenish warbler
Phylloscopus trochiloides
Yellow-browed warbler
Phylloscopus inornatus
Pallas's warbler
Phylloscopus proregulus
Arctic warbler
Phylloscopus borealis
Dusky warbler
Phylloscopus fuscatus
CompareCommon chiffchaff vs Willow warblerCommon chiffchaff vs Greenish warblerCommon chiffchaff vs Yellow-browed warblerCommon chiffchaff vs Pallas's warbler
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the common chiffchaff?
The common chiffchaff is a bird in the family Phylloscopidae and order Passeriformes, grouped with songbirds and other perching birds.
How heavy is the common chiffchaff?
The common chiffchaff has an adult body mass of 8.3 g, which places it in the tiny size class (under 10 g). Its wingspan is 18 cm.
What does the common chiffchaff eat?
The common chiffchaff is an invertivore, which places it at the carnivore trophic level.
Is the common chiffchaff endangered?
No. The common chiffchaff is listed as Least Concern (LC) in the global IUCN assessment, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does the common chiffchaff live?
The common chiffchaff has a lifespan of 7.8 years, with the highest value reported by our sources being 8 years.
How many eggs does the common chiffchaff lay?
The common chiffchaff lays 5.5 eggs per clutch and 1.5 clutches per year, and the eggs are incubated for 14 days.
When does the common chiffchaff reach sexual maturity?
The common chiffchaff reaches sexual maturity at 364.6 days, with reported values from 364.2 to 365 days (1 year).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-chiffchaff
“Common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-chiffchaff.
@misc{common_chiffchaff_2026,
title = {Common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-chiffchaff},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}