Bird Guide

African Stonechat vs Siberian 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
Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus)

Siberian Stonechat

Saxicola maurus

Siberian stonechat resembles its close relative relative the European stonechat (S. rubicola), but is typically darker above and paler below, with a white rump and whiter underparts with less orange on the breast. The male in breeding plumage has black upperparts and head (lacking the brownish tones of the European stonechat), a conspicuous white collar, scapular patch and rump, and a restricted area of orange on the throat. The female has pale brown upperparts and head, white neck patches (not a full collar), and a pale, unstreaked pinkish-yellow rump.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: (c) Константин Селивёрстов, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Константин Селивёрстов · cc-by

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 Siberian Stonechat.