Appearance:

Easily confused with Kestrel, especially in female and immature plumage. Adult male with clean, grey cheeks, no moustache-stripe and no streaking on crown. Upper wing, greater coverts are grey, contrasting with brick red forewing and back without dark spots. Belly sparsely spotted. Underside of wings paler with less barring than Kestrel, and with more pronounced dark wing tips and trailing edge. This is also more or less visible in females and young birds. Female and young birds has a less stern look than Kestrel, due to more faint facial markings. Mask do not extend behind the eye. Tail slighty shorter than Kestrel, usually with central feathers slightly elongated (rare in Kestrel). Talons pale, not black. Flight light and fast, with shallow wing-beats. Hovers less than Kestrel, but soars on up-winds. Identification of female/immature birds requires a combination of plumage, structural and behavioural (flight action) characters.

Sound:

Contact call diagnostic, and quite different from Kestrel. A di- or trisyllabic "che che che", resembling Partridge in timbre, with two first syllables accentuated. Frequently used in colonies an din flocks. Also a Kestrel-like, plaintive trill "vriiiiii".

Contact call:

Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Patrik Åberg, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Small member of the thrush family, with erect posture and large head. Distinct white or buff supercilium in all plumages. Base of primaries shiny white in adults, especially adult male. Coarsely spotted buff rump. Base of tail with white triangular patches. Juveniles with white speckles on upperparts and whitish throat. Lacks the white base of primaries, but supercilium bold.

Sound:

Contact call resembles many of it relatives. A short, soft "peeu", followed by a hard "check" (like hitting two rocks together). The "peeu"-sound is depper and more resonant than similar sounds by Wheatear and Stonechat. Song variable with lots of mimicry. The short phrases starts with dry, rattling or sneering trills, followed by clear whistling notes and expert mimicry. More varied, both in tone and tempo, than both Stonechat and Wheatear.

Song:

Distribution:

Xeno-canto: map

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC