Flycatchers and chats · Perching birds
European Stonechat
Link copied.
Saxicola rubicola
Link copied.
Voice
Song
Alarm
Call
How to recognize it
-
11.5–13 cm long
-
In summer, male with black head and back, orange throat and breast, white patches on sides of neck
-
Female brown, with no white marks on neck, rump or belly
-
Clicking call, "click-click"
About the species
In summer, a male European Stonechat has a black head and upperparts, an orange throat and breast, and a white belly. A white half-collar marks each side of his neck, and a small pale patch shows on the wing. Females are browner overall, with dark streaks across their paler undersides and no white collar.
Both sexes give a clicking call, like two stones knocked together. The male's song is high and twittering, similar to a Dunnock's. The female builds a loose grass nest close to the ground in dense cover, and both parents feed the chicks.
Open heath, coastal dunes, and rough grassland with scattered shrubs, gorse, tussocks, or heather provide cover. There, Stonechats catch insects, spiders, and worms, usually on the ground. Some stay year-round, while those from colder northeastern parts of the range move south for winter, into southern Europe and North Africa.
Where to find
-
On heathland with scattered shrubs, look for the European Stonechat feeding on insects, spiders, and worms close to the ground.
-
On coastal dunes with scattered shrubs, watch for ground-level foraging — it hunts insects, spiders, and worms there.
-
From March to August in open rough grassland with scattered shrubs, watch from a distance for adults feeding young at a nest hidden in dense vegetation close to the ground.
