Whinchat

Saxicola rubetra (Linnaeus, 1758)

		Male
2018-07-14 Tyumen region, Tyumen district	© Maksim Volkov

Description

The Whinchat is a short-tailed, dapper, less than sparrow bird. In all plumages it has rufous breast and strong white supercilium. Spring male has dark almost black mask and white or buffish supercilium. There are white wing patches. Female has light mask, and upperparts lighter than male. Female distinguishes on Stonechat female by strong light supercilium, slimmer constitution, lesser round head; by absent of the lightening on the rump and uppertail; by the white patches on the tail base's sides which is well seen on alighting; in flight the white spots on the shoulders are well appreciable. Juveniles in first plumage are similar to female and have a lot of round light spots on the back and wing coverts, and have dark spots on the underparts. Autumn makes and juveniles are similar to females. There are specific characters to fan the tail and to bow. Weight 14-22 grams, length about 12-13, wing 7,3-8,1, wingspan 21-24 cm.

References