Template:POTD/2024-03-02

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The European stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. It is found across Europe, as far east as Ukraine and the South Caucasus, and in parts of North Africa. It breeds in heathland, coastal dunes and rough grassland, and is either short-distance migratory or non-migratory, with part of the population moving south to winter further south in Europe and more widely in northern Africa. European stonechats are 11.5 to 13 centimetres (4.5 to 5.1 in) long and weigh 13 to 17 grams (0.46 to 0.60 oz), with both sexes having short wings. The summer male has black upperparts, a black head, an orange throat and breast, and a white belly and vent, while the female has brown upperparts and head, and no white neck patches, rump or belly. This male European stonechat was photographed in Beaulieu in Hampshire, England.Photograph credit: Charles J. Sharp