BTO - Breeding Birds of the Wider Countryside: Whitethroat

WHITETHROAT
Sylvia communis

Conservation listings

Europe: no SPEC category (concentrated in Europe, conservation status favourable)
UK: green

Long-term trend

UK, England: rapid decline (followed by shallow increase)

Distribution maps

Maps and statistics from British and Irish
atlases can be viewed here.

Status summary

Whitethroat populations, which had been stable up to 1968 and departed as normal that autumn, crashed by around 70% between the 1968 and 1969 breeding seasons. They fluctuated around their lower level until the mid 1980s, since when a shallow recovery has occurred. Recovery has been most apparent along linear waterways. In a pioneering study, Winstanley et al. (1974) linked the 1969 crash to droughts in the Whitethroat's wintering grounds in the western Sahel. Annual fluctuations in abundance (not shown in the smoothed trend) correlate to those in overwinter survival (Baillie & Peach 1992). Other trans-Saharan migrant warblers have shared similarly timed population changes (Siriwardena et al. 1998b). Productivity, as measured by CES, shows a moderate decline during the period of population recovery, which may be associated with a minor reduction in average brood size.

CBC/BBS UK graph

Table of population changes for Whitethroat

Source Period
(yrs) Years Plots
(n) Change
(%) Lower
limit Upper
limit Alert Comment

CBC/BBS UK 35 1967-2002 340 -64 -75 -53 >50

25 1977-2002 428 36 4 72

10 1992-2002 891 43 29 55

5 1997-2002 1182 5 1 11

CBC/BBS England 35 1967-2002 297 -64 -74 -52 >50

25 1977-2002 373 40 4 82

10 1992-2002 776 44 34 56

5 1997-2002 1026 7 4 12

WBS waterways 27 1975-2002 40 81 -17 230

25 1977-2002 41 125 12 292

10 1992-2002 59 86 51 136

5 1997-2002 59 6 -8 23

CES adults 18 1984-2002 58 -34 . . [>25]

10 1992-2002 71 -21 . .

5 1997-2002 68 -17 . .

CES juveniles 18 1984-2002 62 -43 . . [>25]

10 1992-2002 76 -34 . . [>25*]

5 1997-2002 75 -20 . .

BBS UK 9 1994-2003 987 17 9 24

BBS England 9 1994-2003 857 13 6 21

BBS Scotland 9 1994-2003 54 66 20 130

BBS Wales 9 1994-2003 62 -18 -37 5

WBS UK graph

CES adult abundance graph

CES juvenile abundance graph

BBS UK graph

BBS England graph

BBS Scotland graph

BBS Wales graph

Table of productivity information for Whitethroat

Variable Period
(yrs) Years Mean
annual
sample Trend Predicted
in first year Predicted
in last year Change Comment

Clutch size 34 1968-2002 25 None Small sample

Brood size 34 1968-2002 59 Curvilinear 4.25 chicks 4.15 chicks -0.1 chicks

Daily failure rate (eggs) 34 1968-2002 36 None

Daily failure rate (chicks) 34 1968-2002 44 None

Laying date 34 1968-2002 17 Curvilinear day 146 day 143 -3 days Small sample

Percentage juveniles (CES) 18 1984-2002 73 Smoothed trend 142 productivity index 102 productivity index -30%[>25]

Percentage juveniles (CES) 10 1992-2002 87 Smoothed trend 141 productivity index 102 productivity index -29%[>25*]

Percentage juveniles (CES) 5 1997-2002 87 Smoothed trend 114 productivity index 102 productivity index -12%

Clutch size graph

Brood size graph

Egg nest failure graph

Chick nest failure graph

Laying date graph

CES productivity


	BTO Home \| JNCC Home BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU, UK. © British Trust for Ornithology (Registered Charity Number 216652). Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement Email:
This report should be cited as: Baillie, S.R., Marchant, J.H., Crick, H.Q.P., Noble, D.G., Balmer, D.E., Beaven, L.P., Coombes, R.H., Downie, I.S., Freeman, S.N., Joys, A.C., Leech, D.I., Raven, M.J., Robinson, R.A. and Thewlis, R.M. (2005) Breeding Birds in the Wider Countryside: their conservation status 2004. BTO Research Report No. 385. BTO, Thetford. (http://www.bto.org/birdtrends) Pages maintained by Susan Waghorn and Iain Downie: Last updated 18 January, 2006