European Stonechat

Saxicola rubicola

The European stonechat is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a subspecies of the common stonechat. Long considered a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, genetic evidence has placed it and its relatives in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. It is found across Europe, as far east as Ukraine and the South Caucasus, and in parts of North Africa. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 38,993 times across 42 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

See the European Stonechat on the live map

Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 15°C (typically 12 to 20°C, from 12 areas).

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 43°N in October to 53°N in May, about 1,100 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.