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Revision as of 19:42, 29 December 2008
- Saxicola torquatus
Includes: Siberian Stonechat; African Stonechat; European Stonechat
Identification
Black head, white half-collar, black back, white rump, black tail, black wings with a large white patch on the top side of the inner wing, dark orange red upper breast, white or pale orange lower breast and belly. Siberian Stonechat have a distinctive white collar.
Females brown above and on head, indistinct paler eyebrow line, chestnut-buff rather than orange below, and less white on the wings.
Distribution
Found in Europe (mainly S and W), Africa (including Madagascar), Russia and Siberia, Turkey, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, China, Japan and Korea.
Taxonomy
About 25 subspecies accepted.
There are three distinctive groups, which are sometimes accepted as full species:
- European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) from Europe (W and S) and North Africa
- African Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus) in Africa south of the Sahara (including Madagascar, the Grand Comoro Island and the mountains of southwest Arabia)
- Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus) from the lower Volga east to Siberia, E Turkey, China, the Himalayas, Japan and Korea
Habitat
Open rough scrubland and rough grassland with scattered shrubs. It is also found in pastures and fields. In many areas it is resident, but some birds are non-breeding migrants, and in that case are not restricted to damp areas, but may be found in open drier country. It is usually seen in pairs and usually perches up on a stick or shrub. It flies down onto the ground, and often flicks its wings.
Behaviour
This species eats mainly insects and worms.
African birds breed mainly in the summer months. The nest is well hidden inside a clump of vegetation and consists of an untidy bowl of grass and rootlets. It is lined neatly with rootlets and animal hairs.
External Links
This link finds European Stonechat
