Iberian chiffchaff Iberian chiffchaff The Iberian chiffchaff ("Phylloscopus ibericus") is a species of leaf warbler endemic to Portugal, Spain and North Africa, west of a line stretching roughly from the western Pyrenees via the mountains of central Spain to the Mediterranean. The name "chiffchaff" is onomatopoeic, referring to the repetitive "chiff-chaff" song of the common chiffchaff ("Phylloscopus collybita"). There are similar names in some other European languages, such as the Dutch "Tjiftjaf", the German "Zilpzalp" and Welsh "siff-saff". The genus name "Phylloscopus" is from Ancient Greek "phullon", "leaf", and "skopos", "seeker" (from "skopeo", "to watch"). The specific "ibericus" is Latin for "Iberian".
Common chiffchaff and larvae of butterflies and moths, particularly those of the winter moth. The chiffchaff has been estimated to require about one-third of its weight in insects daily, and it feeds almost continuously in the autumn to put on extra fat as fuel for the long migration flight. As with most small birds, mortality in the first year of life is high, but adults aged three to four years are regularly recorded, and the record is more than seven years. Eggs, chicks and fledglings of this ground-nesting species are taken by stoats, weasels and crows such as the European magpie, and