From Opus

Tichodroma muraria

Photo by Marc Guyt
Ramnagar, India

[edit] Identification

Unmistakable, the only small bird in Europe to show a combination of grey, black, red and white plumage, a long thin beak and a habit for crawling over rockfaces. Only males in summer plumage show the black throat, being greyish/buff white in other plumages. In flight, powers forward with deep irregular wingbeats and can appear much larger than it actually is. The shape of the wings and the wing colors makes a comparison of the flying bird to a butterfly obvious.

Photo showing Winter phase by scottishdude
Photographed: Northern Spain, January, 2010

[edit] Distribution

From Europe to China

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

There are two subspecies:

• T. m. muraria:

• Europe and south-western Asia to northern and western Iran

• T. m. nepalensis:

• South-central Asia (Turkmenistan) and eastern Iran to China

[edit] Habitat

Nests at high altitudes on cliffs and rockfaces in Eurasian mountain ranges. In winter, many birds, forced by harsh conditions descend to a lower altitude when they can sometimes be encountered in upland villages and towns, using buildings as a substitute for natural cliffs.

[edit] Behaviour

Shuffles over bare rock, regularly flicking out its wings, showing the crimson colouration.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.

• List of references

[edit] External Links