The European Stonechat ( Saxicola rubicola ) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a subspecies of the Common Stonechat.

* Saxicola rubicola hibernans.

The scientific name Saxicola means " rock-dweller ", from Latin saxum, a rock + incola, dwelling in ; and rubicola, " bramble-dweller ", from Latin Rubus, brambles + incola ; the subspecies name hibernans refers to Ireland ( Latin, Hibernia ).

es: Saxicola rubicola

eu: Saxicola rubicola

pt: Saxicola rubicola

In Britain, France and Ireland, it is particularly noted for supporting Dartford Warblers ( Sylvia undata ) and European Stonechats ( Saxicola rubicola ); the common name of the Whinchat ( Saxicola rubetra ) attests to its close association with Ulex.

* European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola

* European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola

The Whinchat ( Saxicola rubetra ) is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in Africa.

Saxicola derives from Latin saxum (" rock ") + incola (" dwelling "); rubetra is a Latin term for a small bird.

This species represents a fairly basal divergence of the genus Saxicola.

It retains the supercilium found in many Muscicapidae but lost in the more derived Saxicola species such as the European Stonechat or African Stonechat ( S. torquatus ).

As with other species of Saxicola, it was formerly considered a member of the thrush family ( Turdidae ), but is now placed in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.

The Canary Islands Stonechat ( Saxicola dacotiae ), also known as the Fuerteventura Stonechat or Fuerteventura Chat, and formerly known as the Canary Islands Chat due to its once widespread distribution on the Canary Islands.

It was included in the " Common Stonechat " ( Saxicola torquata ), but it is quite distinct ; it is likely to be an insular derivative of ancestral European Stonechats that colonised the islands some 1-2 mya, during the Early Pleistocene ( Wink et al.

* BirdLife International ( 2006 ): Species factsheet: Saxicola dacotiae.

The Pied Bush Chat ( Saxicola caprata ) is a small passerine bird found ranging from West and Central Asia to South and Southeast Asia.

The Pied Bush Chat is slightly smaller than the Siberian Stonechat, Saxicola maurus, although it has a similar dumpy structure and upright stance.

The genus name indicates that it looks similar to Saxicola, the genus of the Pied Bushchat, a bird often found in similar habitats.

Common Stonechat is the name used for the Saxicola species Saxicola torquatus when this is treated in its broad sense.

Not all of the above are currently recognised as full species by all of the relevant taxonomical authorities, for example the British Ornithologists ' Union, currently include stejnegeri as a subspecies of Saxicola maurus.

For the Winchat ( Saxicola rubetra ), the area of Mourela is the unique nesting ground in Portugal, while the Red-backed Shrike and Yellowhammer is limited to Castro Lombeiro plateau and northern corners of the Park.

Saxicola ( Latin: saxum, rock + incola, dwelling in ), the stonechats or chats, is a genus of 15 species of small passerine birds restricted to the Old World.

Genetic and behavioural evidence has also resulted in several new species being accepted in the genus in recent years, most notably the splitting of the former broad " species " Common Stonechat Saxicola torquatus into five species, a change now widely though not yet universally accepted.

Though fairly similar to females and immatures of the European Stonechat S. rubicola, the Whinchat can readily be distinguished by its conspicuous supercilium and whiter belly, and also in western Europe, by being paler overall than the western European Stonechat subspecies S. rubicola hibernans.

The two subspecies differ in colour intensity following Gloger's rule, with S. r. rubicola paler and with larger white patches in the drier European continental and mediterranean climates, and S. r. hibernans darker brown with less white in the humid Atlantic oceanic climate.

Extreme examples of S. r. rubicola from the driest southern areas of its range such as the Algarve and Sicily are particularly pale and with a large white rump, and can be very similar to Siberian Stonechats in appearance.