19

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin

(Cercotrichas galactotes)
: "Rufous Scrub Robin", "Rufous Bush Robin", "Rufous Bush Chat", "Rufous Warbler"
Size: 15-17 cm

Description

Classification

Distribution

Sightings

Photos

Breeding

Nest

Eggs

Behaviour

Food

Call/s

Physical description

Click here for physical description of this species Click here for a physical description

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins are bigger than European Robins. They have a light greyish-brown front from chin to undertail coverts. The sides of the head show off-white supercilia, dark grey-brown eye stripes and off-white malar stripes under the eye stripes. The frons, ear coverts, crown and the back are brownish-grey. The rump and base of the uppertail are rufous, while the rest of the uppertail is dark-grey, with white tips on the outer tail feathers. The tail is often characteristically cocked; the wings are often drooping. The irises are dark-brown. The bill is dark grey-brown on top, with a pinkish-brown lower mandible. The legs and feet are greyish-pink.

Taxonomy, classification

See Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat

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 Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin is available HERE .

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins are found in subtropical and tropical areas in Mediterranean Europe and in parts of Africa and Asia. Leaving aside the African population, which is by many treated as a separate species, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins breed in an area from the Albanian Adriatic coastline via the Greek coastline, southern Asia Minor, the Middle Eastern Mediterranean coastline to northern Egypt and from Anatolia and Syria into southern Asia, via Iraq, Iran and parts of Kazakhstan, as far as Pakistan. They are partly migratory, wintering in eastern Africa. In passage, they are also found in central Turkey and inland in the Middle East, into large parts of the Arabian peninsula.

Apart from Musandam and parts of the UAE, Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins are also found as summer visitors in parts of the North coast of Oman. In passage they can be found in large parts of the Arabian peninsula.

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins can be found in various types of habitat, from semi-desert country dominated by acacias to gardens and other areas with dense scrub. They have a preference for nesting in prickly pear cacti.

Sightings

Click here for sighting information

Race "familiaris"

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins, race "familiaris"(?), were first spotted by us on the Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, in March 2010.

Photos

Race "familiaris"(?)

ADULT

Sex unknown

Frontal view of a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Close-up lateral view of a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin keeping an eye on the intruder in its territory
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Here a different posture, seen from the side
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, May 2010]

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin with ruffled plumage after preening
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin; slightly different posture
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Near-dorsal view of a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin issuing its call
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, May 2010]

Dorsal view of a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin with its tail up and fanned slightly
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Jumping Jack Flash - Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin jumping off a rock
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin in low, gliding flight
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Behaviour

A Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin's tail basically never stands still. It is always in motion - up-down, fan-fold. Usually, this is what gives the bird away when hidden in dense underbrush or thickets.

A Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin's various ways to hold its tail
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat]

This photo (taken without a flash) shows more clearly how dark it usually is where a Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin likes to sit for preening
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Behaviour

MALE

Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins show other peculiar patterns of behaviour, such as a wing and tail spread, see below. When performed while on the ground, this spread is accompanied by a forward thrust of the breast. This behviour was also observed when there was no second bird in sight.

Extreme posture that clearly indicates a male Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin's display behaviour; a second bird was within sight, in a small tree
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Different posture indicating a male Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin's display behaviour; again, a second bird was within sight
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

Food, Diet

Like all other robins (all families), Rufous-tailed Scrub Robins are flycatchers. Most robins hunt for insects from low to mid-level perches.

This Rufous-tailed Scrub Robin has found a good-sized meal
[Campus of Sultan Qaboos University, near Muscat, April 2010]

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