Bird Guide

Pied Bush Chat vs Siberian Stonechat

Pied Bush Chat (Saxicola caprata)

Pied Bush Chat

Saxicola caprata

Small15 gShrubland

At 13 cm (5.1 in), the pied bush chat is slightly smaller than the Siberian stonechat, Saxicola maurus, although it has a similar dumpy structure and upright stance. The male is black except for a white rump, wing patch and lower belly. The iris is dark brown, the bill and legs black. The female is drab brown and slightly streaked. Juveniles have a scaly appearance on the underside but dark above like the females. A number of geographic populations have been given subspecies status: nominate caprata (Linnaeus, 1766) is found in Luzon and Mindoro, in the Philippines.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Haneesh K M. · CC0
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: Pied Bush Chat and Siberian Stonechat.