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The Lesser whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) is a bird found in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, India, United Kingdom, Norway, and 4 more countries. Scrubby woods and hedges across Europe and Asia; winters in Africa. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, fruit and nectar. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Lesser whitethroat lives

Scrubby woods and hedges across Europe and Asia; winters in Africa.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐛 Insects & bugs60%
• 🍎 Fruit20%
• 🌸 Nectar10%
• 🌰 Seeds & nuts10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Lesser whitethroat

Recorded by David Darrell-Lambert (CC BY-NC 4.0), xeno-canto XC1172399. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Lesser whitethroat

Where does the Lesser whitethroat live?

The Lesser whitethroat lives in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, India, United Kingdom, Norway, and 4 more countries. Scrubby woods and hedges across Europe and Asia; winters in Africa.

What does the Lesser whitethroat eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 60%), fruit (about 20%), nectar (about 10%), seeds and nuts (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Lesser whitethroat endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Europe

• Common shelduck
• Eurasian wigeon
• Western house martin
• Lesser black-backed gull
• European green woodpecker
• Coal tit

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.