European stonechat
| European stonechat | |
|---|---|
| MaleS. r. hibernana Hampshire,UK | |
| |
| FemaleS. r. rubicola Belgium | |
Scientific classification
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Muscicapidae |
| Genus: | Saxicola |
| Species: | S. rubicola
|
| Binomial name | |
| Saxicola rubicola (Linnaeus,1766)
| |
| Synonyms | |
| |
TheEuropean stonechat(Saxicola rubicola) is a smallpasserinebirdthat was formerly classed as asubspeciesof thecommon stonechat.Long considered a member of thethrushfamily, Turdidae, genetic evidence has placed it and its relatives in theOld World flycatcherfamily, Muscicapidae. It is found acrossEurope,as far east asUkraineand theSouth Caucasus,and in parts of North Africa.[2]
Taxonomy and systematics
[edit]The European stonechat wasformally describedby the Swedish naturalistCarl Linnaeusin 1766 in thetwelfth editionof hisSystema Naturaeunder thebinomial nameMotacilla rubicola.[3]This species is now placed in thegenusSaxicolathat was introduced by the German naturalistJohann Matthäus Bechsteinin 1802.[4][5]The English name derives from its call, sounding like two stones knocked together. The scientific nameSaxicolameans "rock-dweller", fromLatinsaxummeaning "a rock" andincolameaning "dwelling in". The specific epithet combines the Latinrubusmeaning "brambles" withincola.[6]The subspecies namehibernansrefers to Ireland (Latin,Hibernia).
In the past, the European stonechat was generally consideredconspecificwith theSiberian stonechatandAfrican stonechat,lumped together ascommon stonechatS. torquatus.A 2002 study usingmtDNAcytochromebsequencesand nuclear DNA microsatellite fingerprinting evidence strongly supported their separation into distinct species.[7][8]Due to a misunderstanding of the rules of Zoological nomenclature, for a short time the nameS. torquatuswas erroneously used for the European stonechat rather than the African stonechat.[8]
Together with theSiberian stonechatandCanary Islands stonechat,the European stonechat constitutes eastern and western representatives of aEurasianlineage; the Asian and European populations separated during theLate PlioceneorEarly Pleistocene,roughly 1.5–2.5mya,andFuerteventurawas colonised by western European or northwest African birds somewhat later in the Early Pleistocene, about 1–2 mya.[8]
Subspecies
[edit]Two weakly definedsubspeciesare currently recognised:[5][7]
- S. r. hibernans(Hartert, E,1910) – Northwestern Europe inAtlanticcoastal areas, in southwestern Norway, Great Britain, Ireland and northwestern France. Birds in coastal Portugal are also often listed as this subspecies,[7]but this is disputed.[9]
- S. r. rubicola(Linnaeus,1766) – In the south and east of its range, from Denmark southwest to Spain and Morocco, east to Poland and Ukraine, and southeast to Turkey. Winters in North Africa and the Middle East.
Description
[edit]
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 theEuropean robin.Both sexes have distinctively short wings, shorter than those of the more migratorywhinchatandSiberian 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. The female has brown upperparts and head, and no white neck patches, rump or belly, these areas being streaked dark brown on paler brown, the only white being the scapular patch on the wings and even this often being buffy-white.[7]
The two subspecies differ in colour intensity followingGloger's rule,withS. r. rubicolapaler and with larger white patches in the drier Europeancontinentalandmediterranean climates,andS. r. hibernansdarker brown with less white in the humid Atlanticoceanic climate.They intergrade broadly where their ranges meet, from southeastern England[10]south through France and Spain, and many individuals are not identifiable to subspecies. Extreme examples ofS. r. rubicolafrom the driest southern areas of its range such as theAlgarveandSicilyare particularly pale and with a large white rump, and can be very similar toSiberian stonechatsin appearance.[9][11]nDNAmicrosatellitefingerprintingreveals a very small degree of separation between the two subspecies.[8]
The male's song is high and twittering like adunnock.Both sexes have a clicking call like stones knocking together.
Distribution and habitat
[edit]European stonechats breed inheathland,coastaldunesand roughgrasslandwith scattered smallshrubsandbramble,opengorse,tussocks orheather.They are short-distancemigrantsor non-migratory, with part of the population (particularly from northeastern parts of the range, where winters are colder) moving south to winter further south in Europe and more widely in north Africa.[7]
Behaviour and ecology
[edit]Breeding
[edit]European stonechats first breed when they are one year old. They are monogamous during the breeding season but do not pair for life. The nest is built entirely by the female and is placed in dense vegetation close to the ground. It is a loose unwoven cup of dried grass lined with hair and feathers. The eggs are laid in early morning at daily intervals. The clutch is typically 4–6 eggs, which are pale blue to greenish-blue with red-brown freckles that are more numerous at the larger end. The average size of an egg is 18.7 mm × 14.4 mm (0.74 in × 0.57 in) with a weight of 2.0 g (0.071 oz). They are incubated for 13–14 days by the female beginning after the last egg is laid. Both parents care for and feed the chicks. They are brooded by the female. The nestlings fledge 12–16 days after hatching but continue to be fed by both parents for a further 4–5 days after which the female begins building a new nest for another brood while the male continues to feed the young for another 5–10 days. The parents raise two or three broods in a season.[12][13]
References
[edit]- ^Bonhote, J. Lewis(1907).Birds of Britain.illustrated byH.E. Dresser.London: Adam and Charles Black. pp. 29/31.OCLC1451688.
- ^Urquhart, Ewan (2002).Stonechats: A Guide to the Genus Saxicola.A & C Black, 1 Jan. p. 40.ISBN978-0-7136-6024-1.
- ^Linnaeus, Carl(1766).Systema naturae: per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis(in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (12th ed.). Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 332.
- ^Bechstein, Johann Matthäus(1802).Ornithologisches Taschenbuch von und für Deutschland, oder, Kurze Beschreibung aller Vögel Deutschlands für Liebhaber dieses Theils der Naturgeschichte(in German). Leipzig: Carl Friedrich Enoch Richter. p. 216.
- ^abGill, Frank;Donsker, David;Rasmussen, Pamela,eds. (January 2021)."Chats, Old World flycatchers".IOC World Bird List Version 11.1.International Ornithologists' Union.Retrieved3 July2021.
- ^Jobling, James A. (2010).The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names.London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp.339,349.ISBN978-1-4081-2501-4.
- ^abcdeUrquhart, E., & Bowley, A. (2002):Stonechats. A Guide to the Genus Saxicola.Christopher Helm,London.ISBN0-7136-6024-4
- ^abcdWink, M.; Sauer-Gürth, H.; Gwinner, E. (2002)."Evolutionary relationships of stonechats and related species inferred from mitochondrial-DNA sequences and genomic fingerprinting"(PDF).British Birds.95:349–355. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2022-06-11.Retrieved2017-09-01.
- ^abSiddle, J.P. (2006)."Which subspecies of Common Stonechat breeds in coastal Portugal?"(PDF).British Birds.99:372–374. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2021-07-09.Retrieved2021-07-03.
- ^Kehoe, Chris (2006)."Racial identification and assessment in Britain: a report from the RIACT subcommittee".British Birds.99:619–645 [635–636].
- ^Corso, Andrea (2001)."Plumages of Common Stonechats in Sicily and comparison with vagrant Siberian Stonechats".British Birds.94:315–318.
- ^Cramp, Stanley;et al., eds. (1988). "Saxicola torquataStonechat ".Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic.Vol. V: Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 737–751.ISBN978-0-19-857508-5.
- ^Johnson, E.D.H. (1971). "Observations on a resident population of Stonechats in Jersey".British Birds.64:201-213,267-279.
Further reading
[edit]- Callion, John (November 2015)."Some Observations of Breeding European Stonechats in Cumbria".British Birds.108(11): 648–659.
- Helm, B.; Fiedler, W.; Callion, J. (March 2006)."Movements of European StonechatsSaxicola torquataAccording to Ringing Recoveries ".Ardea.94(1): 33–44.
External links
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