Guardian Nature School Team Contact Blog Project Noah Facebook Project Noah Twitter

A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife

Join Project Noah!
nature school apple icon

Project Noah Nature School visit nature school

Blackstart

Cercomela melanura

Description:

is a chat found in desert regions in North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. It is a 14–16 cm long bird named for its black tail, which is frequently fanned; the rest of its plumage is bluish-grey or grey-brown (North African races being browner, Middle Eastern races bluer). The sexes are similar, but the male on average has blacker lores. The song is a clear melancholy whistle: CHURlee...TRUloo...CHURlee...TRUlur..., with short phrases from the song used as a call. It is a species of rocky deserts and mountain slopes which nests in a rock crevice where it lays its 3–5 eggs. It feeds on insects, taken mainly on the ground. The Blackstart is a confident species, unafraid of man.

Habitat:

rocky deserts and mountain slopes

Species ID Suggestions



Sign in to suggest organism ID

5 Comments

gperocho
gperocho 12 years ago

:-)

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 12 years ago

Yes, I take back Blue Rock Thrush; this is a Blackstart as you say. Your pictures are great!

gperocho
gperocho 12 years ago

@alice Thank you alice :-)

@ava found it :-), yes i think it's time for me to buy guide books since im starting to shoot alot now :-) thanks

Ava T-B
Ava T-B 12 years ago

I'm not entirely sure, but i think this may be a Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius).
There are Birds of Israel, and Birds of the Middle East guide books, but if you're also going to travel in Europe, I'd suggest Birds of Europe with North Africa and the Middle East by Jonsson.

alicelongmartin
alicelongmartin 12 years ago

Both your birds are lovely, but are unfamilar to me.

gperocho
Spotted by
gperocho

מחוז הדרום, Israel

Spotted on Jan 5, 2012
Submitted on Jan 5, 2012

Related Spottings

Blackstart Brown Rock-chat Blackstart Brown Rock Chat

Nearby Spottings

Arabian Babbler Rock Bunting Rock Hyrax Green Bee-eater
Noah Guardians
Noah Sponsors
join Project Noah Team

Join the Project Noah Team