Flycatchers and chats · Perching birds
Siberian Stonechat
Link copied.
Saxicola maurus
Link copied.
How to recognize it
-
About 12.5 g, sparrow-sized
-
Breeding male with black head and upperparts, white collar, shoulder patch and rump; a little orange on the throat
-
Female brown above, with white patches on the sides of the neck and a pale pinkish-yellow rump; no full collar
-
Male's clicking call: "click-click", like two small stones tapped together
About the species
In breeding plumage, the male is black above and pale below, with a small orange throat, a white collar and white patches on the shoulder and rump. The female is pale brown above, with white marks on the neck and a soft pinkish-yellow rump. In winter, the male's coloring moves toward the female's, but he keeps a full white collar.
The male gives a short, dry click, like two pebbles tapped together. His song is higher and twittering, a very different sound from that brief call.
It breeds in open scrub and rough grassland dotted with shrubs, from low ground to high mountain slopes; on passage, some forage in fields and pastures. It feeds mainly on insects. After the hot continental summer, it migrates from temperate Asia and the far northeast of Europe to tropical wintering grounds, from southern Japan and India to northeast Africa.
Where to find
-
During the hot continental summer, listen for the high, twittering song of a Siberian Stonechat in open rough scrubland.
-
In open rough grassland dotted with shrubs during the breeding season, watch for insect feeding.
-
In Bhutan's Himalayan foothills, look across fields and pastures above 2,000 m for migrants foraging — this happens occasionally.
