Bird Guide

Pied Bush Chat vs Whinchat

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
Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra)

Whinchat

Saxicola rubetra

Small17 gShrubland

The whinchat is a short-tailed bird, moving on the ground with small, rapid hops and frequently bobbing and flicking its wings and tail. It is similar in size to its relative the European robin (Erithacus rubecula), being 12 to 14 cm (4.7 to 5.5 in) long and weighing 13 to 26 g (0.46 to 0.92 oz). Both sexes have brownish upperparts mottled darker, a buff throat and breast, a pale buff to whitish belly, and a blackish tail with white bases to the outer tail feathers.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Sonogram of the Whinchat
Recorded by Noé Ferrari · Song · Arrondissement d'Abbeville (near Boismont), Somme, Hauts-de-France, France · CC BY 4.0
Photo: (c) Mourad Harzallah, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Mourad Harzallah · 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 Whinchat.