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Saxicola rubicola
Small, chunky, and upright bird with blackish head and throat. The tail is short and blackish. It has black streaks on brown back (back duller in winter). It shows a white patch on both sides of the neck. The breast is rust-red with paler belly. Slim black legs The Stonechat often perches on the tops of bushes or on overhead wires in otherwise rather open places. Stonechats are more like pale Whinchats (S. rubetra) in some respects but resident Stonechats are usually easily identified. The nest is a grassy cup, lined with hair and feathers, often in dense grass with entrance tunnel; 5 or 6 eggs; 2 broods; May–July. It drops to ground to pick up insects, spiders,worms, and some seeds; catches some insects in flight, returning to eat them on a perch.
Heaths, upland moors, and stretches of grassland with gorse thickets above coastal cliffs are perfect for it; in winter, it may move to the coast to escape hard weather, and inland breeding populations may temporarily disappear after bad winters.
Camera Model: NIKON D300. Exposure Time: 1/160 sec.; f/6.3; ISO Speed Rating: 200. Exposure Bias: 0 EV. Focal Length: 300.0 mm. No flash
2 Comments
Thanks Ava
Lovely photo