Siberian chiffchaff Siberian chiffchaff Siberian chiffchaff ("Phylloscopus (collybita) tristis") is a leaf-warbler which is usually considered a subspecies of the common chiffchaff, but may be a species in its own right. Siberian chiffchaff breeds in Siberia east of the Pechora River and winters in the lower Himalayas. It is also regularly recorded in western Europe in winter, and it is likely that the numbers involved have been underestimated due to uncertainties over identification criteria, lack of good data and recording policies (Sweden and Finland only accept trapped birds). Because of their unfamiliar appearance, British records in the 1950s and 1960s were originally
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