Amur Stonechat Saxicola stejnegeri
Etymology :
- Saxicola : Latin word saxum – stone; cola- dweller { Stone dweller}
- Stejnegeri : Dr Leonhard Hess Stejneger (1851–1943) Norwegian zoologist
Distribution in India: Winter (Passage?) migrant in Andaman islands
Description: Size of 12-13 cm. Male has black hood linking down nape to black back and wings, with broad white lateral neck patch , large white wing patch, white rump and upper tail-coverts; breast and flanks rufous-chestnut, belly to under tail-coverts paler to white; in fresh plumage, browner above, white collar reduced, underparts more extensively rufous-chestnut; bill and legs black. Female is buff-streaked dark brown above, with indistinct pale supercilium, smaller white wing patch, white upper tail-coverts, grey-brown throat, paler rufous-orange breast and flanks shading to whitish on belly to vent; in fresh plumage similar, but with buff edging above, throat paler. It has less white on rump.
Habitat: It is found in stony barren ground and alpine meadows with scattered rhododendron and juniper bushes. It breeds at 700–3000 m; in winter in open country, fallow land, high grass, reedy wetland margins, cultivated terraces, pastures and scrubby hillsides, mangroves and sea-holly patches along tidal creeks.
Food Habits: It eats Almost entirely invertebrates, mainly small or medium-sized insects and their larvae; occasionally small vertebrates, seeds and fruit.
Breeding Habits: They breed in April- June and usually two broods per season. Nest a loose deep cup of rootlets, grass, leaves and plant stems, lined with finer rootlets and sometimes hair, wool and feathers, placed on ground or in low bank, well-hidden at base of tuft of herbage or in bottom of or under small bush, in Himalayas a pad of grass, hair and wool placed in hole in earth bank or under stone, often in pile of stones marking field boundaries. A clutch of normally 4–6 eggs laid; incubation is for a period of two weeks; nestling period 13–16 days; post-fledging dependence 3–4 months.