Common Stonechat

Saxicola torquata

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Presence in the Strait: Resident
Abundance: abundant
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Tarabilla común

Photograph: Derek Keats, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 13 cm
Weight: 15 g

Presence in the Strait

Abundant resident of open areas and scrub.

Identification

Stout appearance, large head, short dark-brown wings and tail, and small white patch on wings. Males have black head, white neck collar and orange breast. Females generally more dusky. Juveniles are like females but spotted and streaked above with dark brown chest and flanks.

Movements

Peaks in 2nd hf. February and 2nd hf. October.

Ring recoveries

Belgium (10), France (6), Germany (1), Holland (1), Ireland (1) and United Kingdom (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

17 %

Peak in September. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 25 February 1966
Latest record: 9 July 2026

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): Not assessed

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

1990–1999

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

20 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Belgium10
France6
Germany1
Netherlands1
Ireland1
United Kingdom1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Whinchat12.5–12.5 cm · Migrant · overlapping size

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
GBIF taxon key: 6088899

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Derek Keats, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Common Stonechat

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery