Bird Guide

African Stonechat vs European Stonechat

African Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus)

African Stonechat

Saxicola torquatus

Tiny14 gShrubland

The males have a black head, a white half-collar, a black back, a white rump, and a black tail; the wings are black with a large white patch on the top side of the inner wing. The upper breast is usually dark orange-red, with a sharp or gradual transition to white or pale orange on the lower breast and belly depending on subspecies. In a few, black replaces the orange breast feathers in part or entirely. Females have brown rather than black above and on the head with an indistinct paler eyebrow line, chestnut-buff rather than orange below, and less white on the wings.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Matthew Fainman · CC BY 4.0
European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)

European Stonechat

Saxicola rubicola

The stonechat is 11.5–13 cm (4.5–5.1 in) long and weighs 13–17 g (0.46–0.60 oz), slightly smaller than the European robin. Both sexes have distinctively short wings, shorter than those of the more migratory whinchat and Siberian stonechat. The summer male has black upperparts, a black head, an orange throat and breast, and a white belly and vent. It also has a white half-collar on the sides of its neck, a small white scapular patch on the wings, and a very small white patch on the rump often streaked with black.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Recording: Sonothèque ADVL · CC0
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0

Where you might meet both

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Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: African Stonechat and European Stonechat.