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− | [[Image:Stonechat_male.jpg|thumb|550px|right|European Stonechat<br />Photo by {{user|IanF|IanF}}<br />Zinc Works Road, Seaton Carew, Cleveland, [[UK]], June 2007]]
| + | {{disambig}} |
− | ;[[:Category:Saxicola|Saxicola]] torquatus
| + | '''Common Stonechat''' may refer to one of three species previously considered conspecific under the name '''Common Stonechat''' (''Saxicola torquatus''): |
− | '''Includes: Siberian Stonechat; African Stonechat; European Stonechat; Stejneger's Stonechat; Madagascar Stonechat''' | |
− | ==Identification==
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− | [[Image:African_Stonechat.jpg|thumb|400px|right|African Stonechat<br />Photo by {{user|Mybs|Mybs}}<br />Stellenbosch, [[South Africa]], August 2005]]
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− | '''Male'''
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− | *Black head
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− | *White half-collar
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− | *Black back
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− | *White rump
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− | *Black tail
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− | *Black wings with a large white patch on the top side of the inner wing
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− | *Dark orange-red upper breast
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− | *White or pale orange lower breast and belly<br />
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− | Siberian Stonechat have a distinctive white collar.<br />
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− | '''Females'''
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− | *Brown above and on head
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− | *Indistinct pale eyebrow line
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− | *Chestnut-buff underparts
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− | ==Distribution==
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− | Found in [[Europe]] (mainly S and W), [[Africa]] (including [[Madagascar]]), [[Russia]] and [[Siberia]], [[Turkey]], the [[Caucasus]], the [[Himalayas]], [[China]], [[Japan]] and [[Korea]].
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− | ==Taxonomy==
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− | [[Image:Siberian_Stonechat.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Siberian Stonechat<br />Photo by {{user|Yeshey+Dorji|Yeshey Dorji}}<br/>Punakha, western [[Bhutan]], December 2004]]
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− | About 25 subspecies accepted.<br />
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− | There are five distinctive groups, which are sometimes accepted as full species:
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− | * '''European Stonechat''' (''Saxicola rubicola'') from [[Europe]] (W and S) and North [[Africa]]
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− | * '''African Stonechat''' (''Saxicola torquatus'') in [[Africa]] south of the Sahara, the [[Grand Comoro Island]] and the mountains of southwest [[Arabia]])
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− | * '''Madagascar Stonechat''' (''Saxicola sibilla'') in [[Madagascar]]
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− | * '''Siberian Stonechat''' (''Saxicola maurus'') from the lower Volga east to [[Siberia]], E [[Turkey]], [[China]] and the [[Himalayas]]
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− | * '''Stejneger's Stonechat''' (''Saxicola stejnegeri'') in eastern [[Siberia]], eastern [[Mongolia]] to [[Korea]] and [[Japan]]
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− | ==Habitat==
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− | [[Image:Female-stonechat4.jpg|thumb|400px|right|Female<br />Photo by {{user|Geminineil|Geminineil}}<br />East [[Sussex]], October 2010]]
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− | Open rough scrubland and rough grassland with scattered shrubs.
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− | On migration may be found in drier areas.
| + | *'''[[European Stonechat]]''' - ''Saxicola rubicola'' |
− | ==Behaviour==
| + | *'''[[African Stonechat]]''' - ''Saxicola torquatus'' |
− | Most often seen in pairs perched up on a stick or shrub. It flies down onto the ground, returning to the same perch. Often flicks its wings.
| + | *'''[[Siberian Stonechat]]''' - ''Saxicola maurus'' |
− | ====Diet====
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− | This species eats mainly insects and worms.
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− | ====Breeding====
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− | African birds breed mainly in the summer months. The nest is well hidden inside a clump of vegetation and consists of an untidy bowl of grass and rootlets. It is lined neatly with rootlets and animal hairs.
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− | ==References==
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− | #BirdLife International
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− | {{ref}}
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− | ==External Links==
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− | {{GSearch|Saxicola+torquatus Use torquatus for}}
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− | {{GSearch|Saxicola+rubicola Use rubicola}}
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− | {{GSearch|Saxicola+maurus Use maurus}}
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− | <br />
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− | This link finds videos titled "European Stonechat"
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− | {{Video|European_Stonechat}}
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− | [[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Saxicola]][[Category:Videos]] | |