Common chiffchaff Common chiffchaff The common chiffchaff ("Phylloscopus collybita"), or simply the chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia. It is a migratory passerine which winters in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa. Greenish-brown above and off-white below, it is named onomatopoeically for its simple "chiff-chaff" song. It has a number of subspecies, some of which are now treated as full species. The female builds a domed nest on or near the ground, and assumes most of the responsibility for brooding and feeding the chicks, whilst
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