Appearance:

Male unmistakable. Blue throat with rufous red or white center, white supercilium and rufous base of outer tail feathers. Female lacking, or having just a partially blue throat. Female and juveniles could be confused with Redstart because of the rufous tail, but note its dark, bold trailing edge and center. An elegant and fairly long-legged chat that often flicks its wings and cocks its tail.

Sound:

Song: Structure slightly similar to Nightingale, but tone much thinner and less full-bodied. A good impersonator and various imitations are interwoven among metallic, ringing sounds to form a complex, intriguing song. Call: "pju-check". Double syllable starting as a descending whistle, and ending on a short "check".

Song:

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

Appearance:

Large Sylvia with dark hood and pale iris (adult birds). Lacks red orbital ring of Sardinian Warbler. Tertials and coverts without pale fringes. Very similar to Eastern Orphean Warbler (S. crassirostris), but generally the distribution of the two do not overlap. Typical birds also show some differences in plumage like; no dark centres to under tail coverts and warm buff underparts, flanks and vent (variable). The border between the dark hood and grey neck is more diffuse, the back is browner and the bill slightly shorter. Young vagrants with poorly developed characters may be inseparable from S. crassirostris by appearance. Both species differ from Lesser Whitethroat by; stronger bill, no white crescents around eye and darker upper tail. Movements less agile than smaller congeners.

Sound:

Alarm call a short and sharp "tek" recalling Blackcap, often given in series. Also a dry, rasping "turrrr". Both calls are more or less identical to S. crassirostris. Song much more different from latter, but timbre of fluting sounds is similar, recalling that of Blue Rock Thrush. Overall the song is simpler than S. crassirostris, with shorter phrases, longer pauses and a more restricted register. Motifs consists largely of pleasant fluting, often dominated by alternation between two notes, and are often repeated with small variations.

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

CC-photo:Agustín Povedano, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:Jorrit Vlot, Licence,Link.