Lesser Whitethroat

Lesser Whitethroat (Sylvia curruca) is a small grey-brown warbler with a dark eye mask, grey head, white throat and pale underparts, with the sexes nearly alike. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in dense scrub across temperate Europe and central Asia, feeds on insects and berries and migrates to Africa, Arabia and India for winter. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).