Appearance:

Male with brown back, pinkish white underparts and a bluish grey head with a black eye mask. Female more dull with barred underparts. Juvenile like female, but upperparts also barred . Tail brown with white edges in all plumages. Females and juveniles easily confused with other southern/eastern or vagrant shrikes like; Brown Shrike, Isabelline Shrike, Woodchat Shrike and Turkestan Shrike. Differs from those in white sides of tail, barred rump, mantle and scapulars, scaly underparts and dark or yellowish base of bill (not pink).

Sound:

Call a hard "check check" (like striking two rocks together), and a variable nasal "twee" Song surprisingly varied with many expert imitations of small passerines, interwoven with bell-like ringing and dry chirping sounds. May be confusing and hard to identify if bird not seen. Song not very loud, but phrases can be very long.

Alarm call, 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

Appearance:

Compact built bird attached to rocky habitat. Differs in all plumages from Blue Rock-thrush, Monticola solitarius by short, rufous tail and shorter bill. Primary projection very long, and wing-tips almost reaches end of tail in perching birds. Male in breeding plumage unmistakable with blue-grey head, orange-buff underparts and white patch on back (variable). Male resembles female and immature birds when not in breeding plumage, but can sometimes be sexed by partly grey head and hints of white on back. General characteristics of non-breeding plumage are greyish brown and speckled upperparts, and orange-buff, vermiculated underparts. Then told from female Blue Rock-thrush by aforementioned different build, bill and tail, and also by paler throat-sides/breast and warmer rufous flanks. Posture usually upright with giss resembling more a wheatear than a thrush.

Sound:

Alarm call a soft, wheatear-like "peeu", often accompanied by harder "tek" calls. Also a very nasal, drawn-out wheeze. Song varied and pleasing, and often very difficult to tell from Blue Rock-thrush. It is generally softer, more varied and the deeper notes are less tremulous and vibrating. A higher proportion of the song is in the higher register, with fewer lower fluting sounds, and more mimicry. Both sexes sing, but females less than males.

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:gilgit2, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:gilgit2, Licence,Link.

CC-photo:gilgit2, Licence,Link.