- Browse
- Gallery
- Checklists
- Topography
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Feedback
- About Us
Common Stonechat
Latin Name:
Saxicola torquatus
Size:
13cm
Description:
Male: black above; white rump, wing-patch and sides of neck/breast (collar); black throat; orange-rufous breast. In winter, black feathers broadly edged
buff-rufous-brown. Female: rufous-brown above, streaked darker; unmarked yellowishbrown below; white wing-patch and rufous rump. Solitary or in pairs in open country; perches on small bush tops, fence-posts and boulders; restless, makes short trips to ground to capture insects, soon returning to perch.
Habitat:
dry, open areas, cultivation, tidal creeks.
Food:
insects
Distribution:
breeds in Himalaya, 1,500–3,000m; winters all India except Kerala and much of Tamil Nadu.
Call:
Call Description:
double-noted wheet chat call; soft, trilling song of breeding male in Himalaya, occasionally in winter grounds.
IUCN:
National Status:
At IITK: