Stonechat (Saxicola torquata)

Common name: European Stonechat

Species name: Saxicola torquata

Bird type: passerine

Origin: Northwestern Europe

When to see: all year round

Description: Slightly smaller than robins, they are sexually dimorphic. The males are quite distinctive with a black head and bill, white collar, dark brown back and tail and rust-coloured chest that fades towards the legs. The females are less conspicuous with a mottled brown head, back and tail and a lighter chest. They are often seen together.

Male stonechat

Female stonechat

Location: often found in the fields and on fences. Sometimes seen in trees but they seem more comfortable in the open.

Sounds: the song is a pretty trill but their alarm call is what gave them their name as it sounds like stones being knocked together. 

Breeding: they make deep cup nests built close to the ground from grass, moss, plant stems and leaves lined with hair and feathers. They lay 4-6 pale blue-green eggs which have brown-red spots. The eggs are incubated for 2 weeks and the chicks are ready to fledge within 3 weeks of hatching.