Page 306 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

CHATS AND THRUSHES
Order Passeriformes Family Turdidae Species Saxicola torquata
Stonechat blackish head
and throat
white patch on
large white paler throat sides of neck
wing patch and head
black streaks on brown
back (back duller
in winter)
MALE stocky shape
(SUMMER)
pale
rump
IN FLIGHT
rust-red
FEMALE breast
paler belly
pale throat short blackish
tail
mottled chest
slim black
legs
JUVENILE

mall, chunky, and upright, the Stonechat often perches on the
S tops of bushes or on overhead wires in otherwise rather open MALE (SUMMER)
places. Heaths, upland moors, and stretches of grassland with gorse
thickets above coastal cliffs are perfect for it; in winter, it may move
to the coast to escape hard weather, and inland breeding populations
may temporarily disappear after bad winters. Migrant Siberian FLIGHT: low, quick, direct, whirring, onto
Stonechats are more like pale Whinchats in some respects but prominent perch.
resident Stonechats are usually easily identified.
VOICE Hard, scolding tsak or tsak-tsak, sharp wheet, SUBSPECIES
often wheet-tak-tak; song sometimes in flight, rapid, S. t. maura
chattery warble with some chattering and grating (Siberia); clear
notes, less musical than Whinchat’s. rufous rump
NESTING Grassy cup, lined with hair and feathers, pale line
often in dense grass with entrance tunnel; 5 or 6 eggs; over eye
2 broods; May–July.
FEEDING Drops to ground to pick up insects,
spiders, worms, and some seeds; catches some insects
in flight, returning to eat them on a perch. white feather fringes
SIMILAR SPECIES OCCURRENCE
Breeds in most of Europe except
WHINCHAT 32 WHEATEAR 32; REDSTART 32; Iceland, Scandinavia, and NE
autumn; see p.300 see p.298
see p.303 Europe; rather scarce inland in
long pale stripe slimmer NW Europe. Likes open places
over eye
bigger with gorse, heather, and bushes,
on heaths or above coastal cliffs,
white on and dunes.
tail big white area
on tail and long Seen in the UK
rump tail J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 12.5cm (5in) Wingspan 18–21cm (7–8 1 ⁄2in) Weight 14–17g ( 1 ⁄2 – 5 ⁄8oz)
Social Family groups Lifespan Up to 5 years Status Declining†
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