See also
European stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) (Linnaeus, 1766) Mαυρολαiμης - Παπαδκιά - Φίστρακκας - Cyprus
A rare leucistic European stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) Mαυρολαiμης
The whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in Africa.
Its scientific name means "small rock-dweller", in reference to its habitat. Saxicola derives from Latin saxum ("rock") + incola("dwelling"); rubetra is a Latin term for a small bird
The whinchat is similar in size to its relative the European robin (Erithacus rubecula), 12–14 cm long and 13–26 g weight. Both sexes have brownish upperparts mottled darker, a buff throat and breast, a pale buff to whitish belly, and a blackish tail with white bases to the outer tail feathers.
The male in breeding plumage has blackish face mask almost encircled by a strong white supercilium and malar stripe, a bright orange-buff throat and breast, and small white wing patches on the greater coverts and inner median coverts. The female is duller overall, in particular having browner face mask, pale buffy-brown breast, and a buff supercilium and malar stripe, and smaller or no white wing patches. Males in immature and winter plumage and are similar to females, except that adult males retain the white wing patches all year.
Though fairly similar to females and immatures of the European stonechat S. rubicola, the whinchat can readily be distinguished by its conspicuous supercilium and whiter belly, and also in western Europe, by being paler overall than the western European stonechat subspecies S. rubicola hibernans. It also differs structurally in being slightly slimmer and less 'dumpy', and having longer wingtips (an adaptation to its long-distance migration). It is more easily confused with female or immature Siberian stonechat S. maura, which (also being a long-distance migrant) shares the longer wingtips; however, Siberian stonechat can be distinguished by its conspicuous unmarked pale orange-buff rump (in whinchat, the rump is the same mottled brown colour as the back).
Its main call is a hue-tac-tac, the 'tac' softer and less grating than that of the European stonechat; the call is used both for contact between birds and predator alarms. The male has a whistling, crackly but soft song used during the breeding season, consisting of a mixture of soft whistles, tacs and more grating sounds; it is often mimetic, including phrases from the songs of at least 12 other assorted bird species. On the wintering grounds, it often gives alarm calls but only occasionally sings, particularly at the end of winter when starting spring migration
The whinchat favours rough low vegetation habitats such as open rough pasture or similar minimally cultivated grassland with scattered small shrubs such as Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), and bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) or Heather (Calluna vulgaris) stands on rock-strewn ground. They also commonly use new and clear-felled conifer plantations until the new tree crop is about 5–6 years old and a metre or two tall. It always needs at least a few perching points (shrubs, tall weeds, or fenceposts) to scan from for food and use as songposts. It nests in dense low vegetation, laying from four to seven eggs, which hatch after 11–14 days. The young leave the nest on foot 10–14 days after hatching, while still too young to fly; they then fledge at 17–19 days after hatching and remain largely dependent on the parents for up to a further two weeks after fledging. Whinchats are short-lived, typically only surviving two years, to a maximum recorded of just over five years; breeding starts when birds are a year old. Predators include weasels, stoats, and small raptors such as the merlin and nest predators such as crows and magpies. Nests are also lost due to agricultural operations such as silage cutting (the main factor in the species' decline in western Europe) or trampling by livestock, and are sometimes parasitised by cuckoos.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos Meneou by George Konstantinou
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