19

Common Rock Thrushes are smaller than other Eurasian thrushes. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males in breeding plumage and females are different. Breeding males have a blue-grey head and neck and chestnut underparts. The mantle is grey, while the back is grey with white spots. The wings are dark grey-brown, with chestnut to white edge lining. Males in eclipse resemble females (see below). Females have boldly vermiculated plumage, with darker grey-brown hues on head, neck and back than on the front. The belly, vent and undertail coverts are the lightest parts. Wings and uppertail are similar to those of males. The irises of both sexes are dark. The short, straight bill is dark-grey in males and brownish-grey in females. Legs and feet of both sexes are dark-grey. Juveniles are similar to females and non-breeding males.

Common Rock Thrushes were formerly thought to be related to Eurasian thrushes. Instead, they are now known to be chats.

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Common Rock Thrush is available HERE .

The breeding range of Common Rock Thrushes ranges from southern Europe in the West, via central Asia to northern China in the East. The entire population overwinters in Africa, south of the Sahara desert. On migration they can be found in areas in between, such as e.g. the North-African coastline, the Middle East or the Arabian peninsula.

In Europe Common Rock Thrushes occur as breeding migrants only in the South and South-east, at altitudes higher than ca. 1500 m, from parts of southern Spain, much of northern Spain and the Pyrenees in the West, via mountainous regions of the Mediterranean islands, the Alps, the Apennine mountains in Italy, the Balkans and the High Tatras, to the West coast of the Black Sea in the East. In low-lying country near the Black Sea they are usually found only on migration.

Common Rock Thrushes specialize in mountainous areas such as steep dry mountain slopes or alpine meadows.

J. Pires reports finding a Common Rock Thrush at Embalse del Guadiloba, Caceres, Spain, in July 2022.

Other photos shown below were taken by D. Wilczynska on the southern slopes of the Caucasus in Georgia in June 2018.