| Sighting Ref : | IB126861 |
| Sighting Date : | 26 Mar 20 |
| Common Name : | Eastern Stonechat |
| Scientific Name : | Saxicola t. maura or stejnegeri |
| Location : | Tralee |
| County : | Kerry |
| Number Seen : | 1 |
| Principal Observer(s) : | Peter McDermot Not Specified |
| Reported By : | Not Specified |
| Comments : | Hello Joe, On Monday 23rd last at 0915 I found a bright male Stonechat at Clashlehane, on the east side of Tralee, ( GR 863 136 ). The bird was on top of a medium tall hedgerow tree ( somewhat unusual habitat ) and was quite agitated, calling constantly. Plumage-wise most notable was a broad, well-defined, pure white patch on the wing-coverts, more prominent than usual on our Stonechats. The breast and underparts were extensively orange brown, as in usual Stonechat. I decided that this was a well marked spring male Stonechat, behaving rather strangely and in atypical habitat. Siberian Stonechat did cross my mind but I dismissed this on account of the extent of the orange underparts. The bird was above me on the hedge and I was not carrying binoculars and so did not have a view of the rump and back area. The most unusual thing about the encounter was however the call. The bird called continuously - a loud clear 'huitt', louder and clearer than a Willow Warbler, but very similar to the warbler call. As I came away I was quite uneasy about this hitherto unheard of utterance from a Stonechat, but maybe it was an atypical call, predator response or somesuch very rare vocalization. I was very busy with other matters and did not get back to considering the conundrum until Tuesday night. I was keen to find out was this strange call part of Stonecat repertoire and discovered no note of such a call in the literature or on Xeno-canto. Checking other chats and wheatears yielded no lead, but I did decide that the 'huitt' call was very reminiscent of Redstart. On Wednesday morning I discussed the matter with Edward Carty. We eliminated Whinchat, Redstart and wheatears. Edward did advise that the orange underparts are quite variable in Siberian Stonechat and so it was not safe to eliminate Siberian on these grounds. We were left with a bright Stonechat calling like a Redstart. Last evening I decided to check Siberian Stonechat vocalizations on Xeno-canto. My second choice was of a bird recorded in northern India in March 2018 ( XC407528 ), apparently a 2cy male, which is heard to give several clear 'huitt' calls as part of a song sequence. This is identical to the note I heard from the Tralee bird. Conflict resolved. On this basis I am proposing to advise you of a Siberian Stonechat at Tralee on March 23rd. I searched the area this morning but , under ideal conditions, as in the original sighting, there was no sign of the bird. Best Wishes, Peter McDermot |
| Status : | See IRBC Appendix 1 |
 |
Printer Friendly Version |
Copyright © all sightings, photographs and articles 2000-2022