The Whitethroat is a medium-sized warbler, about the size of a Great Tit. It has quite a long tail which it flicks and cocks as it darts rapidly in and out of cover. The male differs from all other warblers by a combination of a grey head, conspicuous white throat and rufous wings (tertials and greater coverts) contrasting with the grey-brown back. Underparts buff; outer tail feathers white. In spring plumage the male has a pinkish suffusion to the breast. The female is distinguished from the male by having a brown head.

Lesser Whitethroat

Bushy places, hedges and woodland edge.

From mid-April to early October.

Feed on insects, and berries and fruit in autumn.

Found over most of the UK. It is a summer visitor and passage migrant, with birds breeding widely, although it avoids urban and mountainous areas. It winters in Africa, south of the Sahara.

A common migrant breeder in Leicestershire and Rutland.