Rufous-tailed Rock-thrush

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Rock Thrush
Male (center), female (below) and young bird (top). Public domain image from 1905 handbook.
Male (center), female (below) and young bird (top). Public domain image from 1905 handbook.
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Turdidae
Genus: Monticola
Species: M. saxatilis
Binomial name
Monticola saxatilis
(Linnaeus, 1766, Switzerland)

The Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush or just Rock Thrush (Monticola saxatilis) is a member of the thrush family Turdidae.

It breeds in southern Europe across central Asia to northern China. This species is strongly migratory, all populations wintering in Africa south of the Sahara. It is an uncommon visitor to northern Europe. Its range has contracted somewhat at the periphery in recent decades due to habitat destruction. For example, in the early 20th century it bred in the Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska (Poland) where none occur today,[2] but it is not considered globally endangered.[1]

This is a medium-sized but stocky thrush 17-20 cm in length. The summer male is unmistakable, with a blue-grey head, orange underparts and outer tail feathers, dark brown wings and white back. Females and immatures are much less striking, with dark brown scaly upperparts, and paler brown scaly underparts. The outer tail feathers are reddish, like the male.[3]

This species breeds in open dry hilly areas, usually above 1500m. It nests in rock cavities, laying 4-5 eggs. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects and berries. The male Rock Thrush has a clear and tuneful song.[3]

[edit] Media

  1. Videos - Handbook of the Birds of the World
  2. Video - Birdguides
  3. Video - Macaulay Library at Cornell Lab or Ornithology
  4. Audio and photos - Mangoverde; direct link here

[edit] Foreign equivalents

The Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush is called:

  1. báibēi jīdōng (白背矶鸫 simplified, 白背磯鶇 traditional) in Mandarin.
  2. koshi jiro iso hiyo dori (コシジロイソヒヨドリ or 腰白磯鵯) in Japanese.

Also see the language list at the left of the page for articles in foreign languages.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b BirdLife International (2004). Monticola saxatilis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
  2. ^ Tomek, Teresa & Bocheński, Zygmunt (2005): Weichselian and Holocene bird remains from Komarowa Cave, Central Poland. Acta zoologica cracoviensia 48A(1-2): 43-65. PDF fulltext
  3. ^ a b Clement, Peter & Hathaway, Ren (2000): Thrushes. Christopher Helm, London. ISBN 0-7136-3940-7
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