Siberian Stonechat

Taxobox
name = Siberian Stonechat

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image_caption = Male at Hodal in Faridabad District of Haryana, India.
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Muscicapidae
genus = "Saxicola"
species = "S. maura"
binomial = "Saxicola maura"
binomial_authority = (Pallas, 1773)The Siberian Stonechat or Asian Stonechat ("Saxicola maura" [Etymology: "Saxicola", "rock-dweller", from Latin "saxum", a rock + "incola", one who dwells someplace. "maura", Ancient Greek for "dark", in reference to the upperpart color as compared to the European species.] )is a member of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. In the past, it was usually classified as a subspecies of the "Common Stonechat" (as "Saxicola torquata maura"), but analysis of mtDNA cytochrome "b" sequence and nDNA microsatellite fingerprinting data, though rather weakly supported, together with other evidence confirms the suspicion that the present bird is a distinct species (Urquhart & Bowley 2002). Together with the European species, it constitutes eastern and western representatives of an Eurasian lineage; they separated during the Late Pliocene or Early Pleistocene, roughly 1.5-2.5 mya (Wink "et al." 2002).

The Siberian Stonechat is migratory and insectivorous. It breeds in open rough scrubland and rough grassland with scattered shrubs. The breeding range covers most of temperate Asia, from about 71°N latitude in Siberia, south to the Himalaya and southwest China, and west to eastern Turkey and the Caspian Sea area. It also breeds in the far northeast of Europe, mainly in Russia, but occasionally as far west as Finland. The wintering range is from southern Japan south to Thailand and India, and west to northeast Africa. On migration, small numbers reach as far west as western Europe, and exceptionally as far east as Alaska in North America.

It resembles the closely related European Stonechat, but is typically paler, with a white rump and whiter underparts with less orange on the breast, and with distinctly longer primary feathers in the wing. In this last feature it more closely resembles the Whinchat, both being adapted to long-distance migration. The summer male has black upperparts, lacking the brownish tones of the European Stonechat, a conspicuous white collar, white scapular patch and white rump, a restricted orange throat and black head. The female has pale brown upperparts and head, and white neck patches (not a full collar) and a pale, unstreaked pinkish-yellow rump.

The male has a clicking call like stones knocking together. The song is high and twittering like a Dunnock.

There are five or six subspecies, with "S. m. maura" (described above) and the very similar "S. m. stejnegeri" (doubtfully distinct from "S. m. maura") across northern and central Asia, and the more distinct southern races "S. m. variegata" (west of the Caspian Sea), "S. m. armeniaca" (eastern Turkey to Iran), "S. m. indica" (Himalaya) and "S. m. przewalskii" (southwest China) being distinguished by larger white areas on the plumage.

References

* Urquhart, Ewan & Bowley, Adam (2002): "Stonechats. A Guide to the Genus Saxicola". Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-6024-4

* Wink, M.; Sauer-Gürth, H. & Gwinner, E. (2002): Evolutionary relationships of stonechats and related species inferred from mitochondrial-DNA sequences and genomic fingerprinting. "British Birds" 95: 349-355. [http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/2002/28.2002.pdf PDF fulltext]

Further reading

Identification

* Robertson, Iain (1977) Identification and European status of eastern Stonechats "British Birds" 70:237-245
* Stoddart, Andy (1992) Identification of Siberian Stonechat "Birding World" 5(9):348-356

Footnotes

Gallery