# Common whitethroat (*Curruca communis*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-whitethroat  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common whitethroat (Curruca communis), also called Whitethroat or Greater whitethroat, is a bird in the family Sylviidae, order Passeriformes, within the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 14.5 g and a wingspan of 20 cm. This migratory, perching invertivore lives in shrubland and has a geographic range of 14,120,000 km². It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch, with 2 clutches per year and an incubation period of 11 days, and it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 14.2 g – 15.5 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 20 cm |
| Lifespan | 7.5 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 8.92 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | shrubland |
| Egg incubation | 11 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.5 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 2 |
| Lifestyle | Perching |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Sylviidae
- genus: Curruca
- species: *Curruca communis* (Latham, 1787)

Synonyms: *Communis communis*, *Curruca caniceps*, *Curruca cineracea*, *Curruca cinerea*, *Curruca cinerea persica*, *Curruca fruticeti*, *Curruca sylvia*, *Ficedula cinerea*, *Ficedula curruca*, *Ficedula curruca cineraria*, *Motacilla fruticeti*, *Motacilla rufa*, *Motacilla sylvia*, *Sylvia affinis*, *Sylvia cineraria*, *Sylvia cinerea*, *Sylvia cinerea*, *Sylvia communis*, *Sylvia fruticeti*, *Sylvia fruticeti*, *Sylvia rufa*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common whitethroat?

The common whitethroat is a bird in the family Sylviidae, order Passeriformes, grouped with the songbirds and other perching birds.

### How much does the common whitethroat weigh?

An adult Common whitethroat weighs 14.5 g, with values from 14.2 to 15.5 g reported by sources. Its wingspan is 20 cm.

### What does the common whitethroat eat?

The common whitethroat is an invertivore, and its trophic level is listed as omnivore.

### Is the common whitethroat endangered?

No. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the common whitethroat live?

Its lifespan is given as 7.5 years, with values up to 8.9 years reported by sources.

### How many eggs does the common whitethroat lay?

It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year, with an incubation period of 11 days.

### Is the common whitethroat migratory?

Yes, the common whitethroat is migratory. It lives in shrubland and has a geographic range of 14,120,000 km².

### Who named the common whitethroat?

Curruca communis was named by Latham in 1787, written as (Latham, 1787).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Common whitethroat (Curruca communis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-whitethroat