photo sharing and upload picture albums photo forums search pictures popular photos photography help login
Zoltan Kovacs | profile | all galleries >> "Heaven's here on Earth" >> Birds >> Bird Species >> Passeriformes >> Muscicapidae - Chats, Old World Flycatchers >> Pied Bushchat tree view | thumbnails | slideshow | map

Pied Bushchat

The Pied Bush Chat (Saxicola caprata) is a small passerine bird found ranging from West and Central Asia to South and Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms. It is a familiar bird of countryside and open scrub or grassland where it is found perched at the top of short thorn trees or other shrubs, looking out for insect prey. They pick up insects mainly from the ground, and were, like other chats, placed in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now considered as Old World flycatchers.
They nest in cavities in stone walls or in holes in an embankment, lining the nest with grass and animal hair. The males are black with white shoulder and vent patches whose extent varies among populations. Females are predominantly brownish while juveniles are speckled.
The Pied Bush Chat is slightly smaller than the Siberian Stonechat, Saxicola maurus, although it has a similar dumpy structure and upright stance. The male is black except for a white rump, wing patch and lower belly. The iris is dark brown, the bill and legs black. The female is drab brown and slightly streaked. Juveniles have a scaly appearance on the underside but dark above like the females.
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)female
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male
Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata)male