The blue rock thrush (''Monticola solitarius'') is a species of

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-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta (the word for it in Maltese being ''Merill'') and was shown on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency.

Taxonomy

The blue rock thrush was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the

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binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Turdus solitarius''. The scientific name is from Latin. ''Monticola'' is from ''mons, montis'' "mountain", and ''colere'', "to dwell", and the

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''solitarius'' means "solitary".. The rock thrush genus Monticola was formerly placed in the family Turdidae but

molecular phylogenetic Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

studies have shown that the species in the genus are more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. There are five recognised

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

: * ''M. s. solitarius'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – northwest Africa, south Europe, north Turkey to Georgia and Azerbaijan. * ''M. s. longirostris'' ( Blyth, 1847) – Greece and west and south Turkey through the Middle East to the northwest Himalayas to northeast Africa and India * ''M. s. pandoo'' ( Sykes, 1832) – central Himalayas to east China and north Vietnam to Greater Sunda Islands * ''M. s. philippensis'' ( Statius Müller, 1776) – east Mongolia to Sakhalin south to Japan, extreme north Philippines and northeast China to Indonesia * ''M. s. madoci''

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Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

There is a proposal to split ''Monticola solitarius'' into two species: a western taxon comprising ''M. s. solitarius'' and ''M. s. longirostris'' and an eastern taxon with ''M. s. philippensis'', ''M. s. pandoo'' and ''M. s. madoci''.

Description

The blue rock thrush is a starling-sized bird, in length with a long slim bill. The breeding male of the

nominate subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

is unmistakable, with all blue-grey plumage apart from its darker wings. Females and immatures are much less striking, with dark brown upperparts, and paler brown scaly underparts. The male of the subspecies ''M. s. philippensis'' has rufous-chestnut plumage from the mid-breast down to the undertail. Both sexes lack the reddish outer tail feathers of rock thrush. The male blue rock thrush sings a clear, melodious call that is similar to, but louder than the call of the rock thrush.

Distribution and habitat

The European, north African and southeast Asian birds are mainly resident, apart from altitudinal movements. Other Asian populations are more migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa, India and southeast Asia. This bird is a very uncommon visitor to northern and western Europe.

Behaviour

Blue rock thrush breeds in open mountainous areas. It nests in rock cavities and walls, and usually lays 3-5 eggs. An

omnivore An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nutr ...

, the blue rock thrush eats a wide variety of insects and small

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s in addition to berries and seeds.

Gallery

File:Monticola solitarius -ground-8.jpg, Male ''M. s. philippensis'' File:isohiodori_fem2.JPG, Female, winter, Yakushima, Japan File:Isohiodori-male.jpg, Male, autumn, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan File:Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius)- pandoo race- Breeding Male at Jayanti, Duars, West Bengal W IMG 5310.jpg, Breeding male of race ''pandoo'' from northeastern India File:BlueRockTrush LaCanada.jpg, Male, late winter, Spain File:Blue Rock Thrush Maharashtra.jpg, Female, late winter, Maharashtra, India File:BlueRockThrushSideView.jpg, Male in December, near Gumma Nayakana Palya, Karnataka File:Blue rock thrush (male) at Gamla Nature Reserve.jpg, Male in January, Gamla Nature Reserve, Israel

References

External links

Blue rock thrush videos, photos & sounds
on the Internet Bird Collection
Ageing and sexing by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze

Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the blue rock thrush
{{Taxonbar, from=Q152144

blue rock thrush The blue rock thrush (''Monticola solitarius'') is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and M ...

Chats (birds) Birds of Eurasia National symbols of Malta Birds described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus