Reunion Stonechat
Saxicola tectes
A small, chunky robin-like bird. Males are black and white and quite variable, sometimes having a white eyebrow and showing a variable amount of rufous on the underparts. Females are dark brown on the back and pale below, with some rufous on the breast. Found in a wide variety of habitats on the island of Reunion, including humid forest, heath, farms, gardens, montane grassland, and scrub. Most common at middle and high elevations. Perches up conspicuously and often flicks the wings. Distinctive within its restricted range. Song is a quick jumbled mix of high-pitched scratchy notes.
Identification
Overall, the male is black above and white below, but also with a white supercilium (sometimes absent), half-collar, and greater covert patch, and a variable-sized orange patch on the breast. Females differ from males in being browner above, more buff-toned below, and often lacking the white greater covert patch. The white throat and (usually white) supercilium are the most prominent external differences from the African stonechat S. torquatus, which has a wholly black head including the throat and supercilium.
Taxonomy
The Réunion stonechat was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the flycatchers in the genus Muscicapa and coined the binomial name Muscicapa tectes. Gmelin based his account on "Le gobe-mouche de l'Ilse de Bourbon" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. The Réunion stonechat is now placed in the genus Saxicola that was introduced in 1802 by the German naturalist Johann Matthäus Bechstein. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The scientific name is from Saxicola, "rock-dweller", from Latin saxum, a rock + incola, dwelling in; and tectes, onomatopoetic Neo-Latin after the species' call, from the Réunion Creole name tec-tec.<p>It is a member of the common stonechat superspecies, but it is distinct, together with its closest relative the Madagascar stonechat S. sibilla being insular derivatives of the African stonechat. Its ancestors probably diverged from the sub-Saharan African lineage as it spread across the continent some 2–2.5 mya during the Late Pliocene.
- Scientific name
- Saxicola tectes
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1789)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Saxicola
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Other Birds
Black-masked Finch
Coryphaspiza melanotis
Distinctive finch with a disjunct distribution. Males have an olive-green back with black streaks, and a contrasting face pattern with a broad white eyebrow and a black mask. Note the bicolored bill. Female lacks the bold head pattern. Inhabits well-preserved tall natural grasslands with scattered shrubs. Song is a very high, thin “tziieep...tsi-tsíp...zz-tzzz...”
Pink Cockatoo
Cacatua leadbeateri
Distinctive cockatoo found in a wide variety of habitats across inland Australia, typically favoring dry woodlands, where it feeds on seeds. Relatively small, with pink underparts and white upperparts. Magnificent, long white crest has colorful band of red at base, in subspecies leadbeateri inset with another band of yellow. In flight, pink underwings evident. Often observed feeding on the ground beside roads. Call a wavering, high-pitched note.
Winter Wren
Troglodytes hiemalis
Tiny, short-tailed, plain-brown wren with a huge voice. Subtly patterned, with indistinct pale eyebrow and diffuse dark barring on flanks and wings. Constantly keeps tail cocked at an angle. Found in a variety of forested habitats, but always prefers wetter areas with thick tangles, often around treefalls and moss. Darker, smaller, and shorter-tailed than House Wren. Incredibly beautiful song is a long series of musical whistles and trills; an unmistakable and common sound in northern forests. Call is a dry, low "chimp" remarkably similar to Song Sparrow.
Start Your Bird Watching Journey
Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.