Common chiffchaff the male has little involvement in nesting, but defends his territory against rivals, and attacks potential predators. A small insectivorous bird, it is subject to predation by mammals, such as cats and mustelids, and birds, particularly hawks of the genus "Accipiter". Its large range and population mean that its status is secure, although one subspecies is probably extinct. The British naturalist Gilbert White was one of the first people to separate the similar-looking common chiffchaff, willow warbler and wood warbler by their songs, as detailed in 1789 in "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne", but the common chiffchaff was
Eastern Canary Islands chiffchaff de Famara. Eastern Canary Islands chiffchaff The eastern Canary Islands chiffchaff or Lanzarote Island chiffchaff ("Phylloscopus canariensis exsul") is an extinct subspecies of the Canary Islands chiffchaff endemic to the island of Lanzarote – and possibly also Fuerteventura – in the Canary Islands, Spain. The eastern Canary Islands chiffchaff was more chestnut-backed and shorter-winged than the western Canary Islands chiffchaff, "Phylloscopus canariensis canariensis". These birds were formerly considered subspecies of the common chiffchaff but separated (Clement & Helbig, 1998; Sangster "et al.", 2001) due to their morphological, bioacoustical, and mtDNA sequence differences (Helbig "et al.", 1996). Apparently this subspecies was