Common Rock Thrush

The common or rufous-tailed rock thrush is a medium-sized but stocky chat, 17–20cm long. The summer male is unmistakable, with a blue-grey head, orange underparts and outer tail feathers, dark brown wings and a white back. Females and immatures are much duller, dark brown and scaly above and paler brown and scaly below, but share the male's reddish outer tail feathers. The male has a clear, tuneful song (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in open, dry hill country, usually above 1,500m, from southern Europe across Central Asia to northern China, nesting in rock cavities and laying four or five eggs. It is omnivorous, taking a wide range of insects, berries and small reptiles. It is strongly migratory, and all populations winter in Africa south of the Sahara. It has no subspecies. SoIB 2023 lists it as a passage migrant in India with localized summer breeding, but gives no trend or priority (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).