African Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus axillaris) - 8 July 2013. Ngorongoro Crater, Arusha Region, Tanzania.



Male above, female below. These birds often sit in the open, upright on fences or small shrubs.

The former Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus) has been split into three species, European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola), Siberian Stonechat (Saxicola maurus), and African Stonechat (Saxicola torquatus), based on a series of phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence data (reviewed by Sangster et al. 2011).

Within the reconstituted African Stonechat, there are 14-17 subspecies which Clements divides further into three groups: African, Ethiopean, and Madagascar. Our bird is a member of the African group and based on range should be S. t. axillaris which occurs in the highlands of Northern Tanzania and adjacent Kenya. Other races occur in Western and Eastern Tanzania.

As with other members of the subfamily Saxicolinae, most authors now include them with the Muscicapidae (Old World Flycatchers), but HBW inexplicably includes them with the Thrushes (Turdidae). HBW also does not accept the three-way species split.

Reference

Sangster G., Collinson M., Crochet, P.-A., Knox A.G., Parkin D.T., Svensson L., Votier, S.C. (2011): Taxonomic recommendations for British birds: seventh report. Ibis 153: 883-892. [PDF]

Nikon P510 Coolpix Point-and-shoot.
[ Back to Photo Gallery ] [ Home ]