Colours of Wildlife: Stonechat
Created | Updated May 24, 2015
Stonechat
Willem is a wildlife artist based in South Africa. He says "My aim is simply to express the beauty and wonder that is in Nature, and to heighten people's appreciation of plants, animals and the wilderness. Not everything I paint is African! Though I've never been there, I'm also fascinated by Asia and I've done paintings of Asian rhinos and birds as well. I may in future do some of European, Australian and American species too. I'm fascinated by wild things from all over the world! I mainly paint in watercolours. . . but actually many media including 'digital' paintings with the computer!"
Here I have for you a very handsome little bird! This is a male African Stonechat, Saxicola torquatus. The scientific name 'Saxicola' means 'rock-dweller', and alludes to this bird's frequenting rocky habitats like mountains. However, its common name does not refer to that at all! Instead, it comes from this little bird's call: it makes a 'chak-chak' call that sounds very much like two small stones being knocked together. It also gives a soft whistle, and has a canary-like territorial song, although it is not such a vocal virtuoso as a canary.
First Known from South Africa!
There are a few different species of stonechat, including one that lives in most of Europe. But the first stonechat known to European scientists was this one, the African stonechat … and the first specimen known to science came from the Cape of Good Hope! It was named by the famed Finnish father of taxonomy, Linnaeus himself, in the mid-Eighteenth Century. I wonder how it happened that the European scientists missed the stonechats in their own back yards, having to come here to realize that these fine little birds exist!
Stonechats of the World, Divide!
Today, several species of stonechat are recognized, four of them living in Europe and Asia. A few of them live on islands, such as Madagascar, Réunion (close to Mauritius) and the Canary Islands. Not long ago, they were all considered to be a single species, only different forms or subspecies. Today they're considered separate, fully distinct species. There's been some confusion with names, though, the African stonechat, once recognized as distinct, having been given a different species name, Saxicola axillaris. But it should keep its original name, having been the first named stonechat, and so the other stonechat species should have different names. Some scientists also got confused by the genus name 'Saxicola', considering it female because of the 'a' ending and so giving the species name in the female form as well, 'torquata'. But 'Saxicola' isn't in fact female, and therefore the species name should be the masculine form 'torquatus'. It means 'with a collar', referring to the white neck patches of the male birds.
All indications are that stonechats (like chats in general) probably are originally from Europe and Asia. The African stonechat is descended from birds that came to Africa from Europe, around 2.5 million years ago (the Pliocene epoch, which was a time of fantastic global biodiversity). In Africa they started to change, evolving into a distinct species. Stonechats also flew over the ocean to colonize islands like Madagascar and Réunion. The stonechats of the Canary Islands might have come there directly from Europe. These different stonechat populations, isolated from each other, gradually evolved unique and distinct features. African stonechats, however, were never completely isolated from the ones in Europe until the Sahara Desert formed. In the thousands of years the desert has been there, they've become fully distinct as well.
Another funny thing is that stonechats, and chats in general (and there is a vast array of different chat species), have for long been classified in the wrong family! They were considered close relatives of thrushes. Now it seems they are much closer to flycatchers! Indeed, they are currently classified in the old-world-flycatcher family, the Muscicapidae.
Flycatching Denizens of the Highlands
Stonechats are indeed mostly insect-eaters. They are not quite as manoeuvrable in flight as flycatchers are, but they still catch most of their prey on the wing. They often snatch large insects like dragonflies, butterflies and flying termites out of the air. Sometimes they swoop down to catch their prey on the ground. Only rarely do they eat non-animal food like seeds or berries. Like flycatchers, they perch conspicuously on top of shrubs, low trees, fence posts or any other prominent objects. From here, they can spy out the surroundings to catch a glimpse of potential food, as well as proclaim their territories with song. Most of the time, a stonechat male and female pair are found close to each other, sharing a territory. The female stonechat is not as bold and bright as the male, being more plain brownish. She is still a very pretty bird! Stonechats are fairly fearless. They will let humans come quite close to them. Perched prominently as they often are, they make easy subjects for photographers.
In most of Africa, stonechats live in highland regions, with low, open vegetation. In Southern Africa, however, they are found at lower altitudes as well. I myself associate them mostly with open grassland or low shrubland. Most ones I see are in mountainous and hilly regions. They occur in marshy regions and scrub at the edges of forests too. These areas offer them good hunting and abundant food. They are absent from dry regions and deserts. Stonechats frequent the highest mountains only in summer, moving off to lower, warmer regions in winter, when the mountains become cold and snowy.
In the breeding season, male stonechats display to the females by posing in front of them, showing her the white patches on his plumage – his white shoulder patches, rump, and wing feathers. He also has a little display flight, hovering above her while letting his legs dangle. These little birds nest on the ground. They make cup-shaped nests lined with soft leaves and plant fibers. These are usually hidden beneath rocks or small bushes or inside clumps of grass. A typical clutch has three or four eggs. Both parents feed the chicks. Stonechats can rear two or three broods a year.
These birds are widespread and common. They've proven themselves adaptable to human-changed environments. They are therefore not at all threatened at the moment. If ever they are, it would be a dire day for the world.
