Bluethroat

The bluethroat is a small passerine of the Old World flycatcher family, similar in size to a European robin at 13–14 cm, with a strong white eyebrow. It is plain brown above except for the distinctive tail, brown with black outer corners and red basal side patches. The male plumage is brightest in spring and summer; after the summer moult the fresh feathers have pale tips that obscure the throat pattern. Moult begins in July after breeding and is completed in 40–45 days, before migration (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in wet birch wood or bushy swamp in Europe and across the Palearctic, and winters in the Iberian Peninsula, northern Africa and southern Asia, including the Indian subcontinent. The male has a varied, very imitative song and the call is a typical chat chack. SoIB 2023 rates it a Moderate conservation priority, a winter migrant and localised summer migrant of wetland with a Large range of about 502,000 km² and a current decline of about 3.5% a year (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).