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The whinchat (''Saxicola rubetra'') is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in central Africa. At one time considered to be in thrush family, Turdidae, it is now placed in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Both sexes have a strong supercilium, brownish upper parts mottled darker, a pale throat and breast, a pale buff to whitish belly, and a blackish tail with white bases to the outer tail feathers, but in the breeding season, the male has an orange-buff throat and breast. The whinchat is a solitary species, favouring open grassy country with rough vegetation and scattered small shrubs. It perches in elevated locations ready to pounce on the insects and other small invertebrates that form its diet. The nest is built by the female on the ground in coarse vegetation, with a clutch of four to seven eggs being laid. The hen incubates the eggs for about thirteen days and then both parents feed the nestlings. Fledging takes place about eighteen days after hatching and the parents continue to feed the young for another fortnight. Moulting takes place in late summer before the migration southwards, and again on the wintering grounds in Africa before the migration northwards in spring. The whinchat is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified it as being of "least concern". ==Taxonomy and systematics== This species represents a fairly basal divergence of the genus ''Saxicola''. It retains the supercilium found in many Muscicapidae but lost in the more derived ''Saxicola'' species such as the European stonechat or African stonechat (''S. torquatus'').〔Wink, M.; Sauer-Gürth, H. & Gwinner, E. (2002): Evolutionary relationships of stonechats and related species inferred from mitochondrial-DNA sequences and genomic fingerprinting. ''British Birds'' 95: 349–355. (PDF fulltext )〕 As with other species of ''Saxicola'', it was formerly considered a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now placed in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.〔Pan, Q.-W., Lei, F.-M., Yang, S.-J., Yin, Z.-H., Huang, Y., Tai, F.-D., & Kristin, A. (2006). (PDF Phylogenetic analysis of some Turdinae birds based on mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences. ) ''Acta Zoologica Sinica'' 52 (1): 87 – 98.〕 It, and similar thrush-like Muscicapidae species, are often called chats. Its scientific name means "small rock-dweller", in reference to its habitat. ''Saxicola'' derives from Latin ''saxum'' ("rock") + ''incola'' ("dwelling"); ''rubetra'' is a Latin term for a small bird.〔BTO BirdFacts (Whinchat )〕 No subspecies are recognised.〔 Very rarely, hybridisation occurs between the whinchat and the Siberian stonechat (''Saxicola maurus''), with a case being reported in Finland in 1997.〔Lindroos, T., in Anon., ed. (1999). European News. ''British Birds'' 92: 77.〕 It has also been reported to hybridise with the European stonechat in western and southern Europe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Whinchat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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