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Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) German name(s): "Braunkehlchen" Size: 11.5-14 cm; wing span 21-25 cm Body mass: 13-26 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.13-0.14

Europe: Family Group 19 Family Group 19 Table European Robin Common Redstart Black Redstart Bluethroat Whinchat European Stonechat Common Rock Thrush Blue Rock Thrush Common Nightingale Northern Wheatear Isabelline Wheatear Eastern Black-eared Wheatear Black Wheatear White-throated Dipper Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Whinchats are small robin-like birds. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. Male Whinchats have a dark chocolate- or coffee-brown crown streaked with white and very prominent broad white supercilia. The chin and chest are orange-buff, while the rest of the front (belly, vent, undertail coverts) is white to off-white. The back and mantle are the same dark chocolate brown as the head, with broad light-brown edges on the wing coverts. The flight feathers and the tail are entirely dark brown. Females are a lighter shade of dark-brown. Especially the sides of the head are lighter than the males' and the supercilia, chin, sides of the neck and chest are light-brown to buff. Not only the wing coverts have light-brown to buff edge lining, but the tail and flight feathers also have thin light-brown leading edges. The irises of both sexes are dark-brown. The straight slender bill is dark-grey. The legs and feet are also dark-grey. Juveniles have a plainer plumage than adults, with some streaking on the chest.

Taxonomy, classification See Whinchat at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range 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 Whinchat is available HERE . Whinchats are a migratory Eurasian species of small "Old World Flycatchers". Apart from a few small patches, Whinchats do not breed in western and south-western Europe, except northern England and Scotland. Their breeding grounds are mainly in central, northern, eastern and south-eastern Europe, from Germany to the North of the Alps and basically all of Scandinavia (except a small coastal fringe in the North) eastward via the Balkans, the northern coastline of the Black Sea and the area around the Caucasus mountains into western and central Asia up to about the river Ob, including high geographic latitudes. Everywhere else in Europe, northern Africa, Asia Minor, the Middle East, and around the Caspian Sea into central Asia they can be found during their migration. They spend the northern winters in tropical sub-Saharan Africa, with a small population also staying on the north-western African coastal fringe. With some exceptions, Whinchats are found only as breeding migrants in all mountainous regions of Europe and in eastern, northern and south-eastern Europe. Elsewhere on the continent they are found only during migration. Whinchats have a preference for grassland, rough pasture, heath or bracken with scattered shrubs. They can be found in lush pasture, too.

Sightings Click here for sighting information J. Pires reports finding Whinchats occasionally during the autumn months in and around Mora, Evora, Portugal, and also at Sagres, Algarve, Portugal. D. Wilczynska reports first spotting Whinchats regularly during the breeding season in various parts of Poland, e.g. in Biebrza NP, and along the river Bug near Brok, Masovia, and near Malkinia, Masovia. S. Cuturilov reports spotting a Whinchat on Zlatibor mountain, south-western Serbia, in June 2017. Another was found by A. Sarok in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024. H. Dahlem-Senger reports finding a Whinchat near Eltville, Hessen, Germany, in May 2021.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Frontal view of a pair of Whinchats; male below, female above with drooping wings as often seen in robins
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Frontal/near-lateral view of a pair of Whinchats; male on the left, female on the right (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Lateral view ofa pair of Whinchats; male below, female above (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

MALE

Frontal view of a singing male Whinchat; note the white supercilia and dark cheeks; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 24 June 2019 (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, June 2019]

Lateral view of a male Whinchat; this is the bird whose calls were recorded on 24 June 2019 (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, June 2019]

Lateral/ventral view of a male Whinchat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Biebrza NP, Poland, May 2017]

Lateral view of a male Whinchat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Near-dorsal view of a male Whinchat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Dorsal view of a male Whinchat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a female Whinchat (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, June 2019]

Lateral view of a female Whinchat looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Ponte de Escusa, Couco, Coruche, Portugal, September 2022]

Lateral view of a female Whinchat looking at the observer (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Ponte de Escusa, Couco, Coruche, Portugal, September 2022]

Lateral view of a female Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Ponte de Escusa, Couco, Coruche, Portugal, September 2022]

Lateral view of a female Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Raia river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2020]

Lateral view of a female Whinchat looking away from the observer (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Ponte de Escusa, Couco, Coruche, Portugal, September 2022]

Near-dorsal view of a female Whinchat looking sideways (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, June 2019]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Frontal view of a first-winter Whinchat looking sideways; note the spotting on the chest (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, October 2025]

Near-lateral view of a first-winter Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, October 2025]

Lateral view of a first-winter Whinchat looking at the observer; note the white spots at the ends of the wing coverts (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Raia river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2020]

Lateral view of a first-winter Whinchat, now issuing its call (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Raia river, Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2020]

Lateral view of a first-winter Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, October 2018]

Lateral view of a juvenile Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, near Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, October 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, October 2019]

Lateral view of a juvenile Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2014]

Near-dorsal view of a juvenile Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2014]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Whinchat (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sagres, Algarve, Portugal, October 2019]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Migratory

Elementary unit: Solitary/pair

Food, Diet

Whinchats are mostly insectivores, but may take fruit or berries in autumn.

Pair of Whinchats; male on the left, female on the right - the male has caught a caterpillar (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Frontal view of a female Whinchat with a berry (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[River Bug, near Brok, Masovia, Poland, May 2016]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

whnchat_dw_20200612.m4a	(Poland)	Contact calls?	© DW
whnchat_dw_20200612_2.m4a	(Poland)	Contact calls? (pair Q&A)	© DW
whnchat_dw_20190624_2b.m4a	(Poland)	Territorial call (male)	© DW
whnchat_dw_20190624_2c.m4a	(Poland)	Territorial call (male)	© DW
whnchat_dw_20160529.m4a	(Poland)	Territorial calls (male)	© DW
whnchat_dw_20190624_2a.m4a	(Poland)	Territorial calls (male)	© DW

More Whinchat sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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