The chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita) is named onomatopoeically for its simple chiff-chaff song. It is a small olive-brown warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia. It flits through trees and shrubs, with a distinctive tail-wagging movement. It is also known as the chiffchaff leaf-warbler, Eurasian chiffchaff, northern chiffchaff or as the brown leaf-warbler. It is migratory, wintering in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa, and breeding throughout northern and central Europe and Asia. The British naturalist Gilbert White noticed in 1789 that the chiffchaff, willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) and wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) sang distinctive songs, so he decided they were separate species. However, they were not formally described until 1817 by French ornithologist Louis Vieillot.
