Blue Rock-Thrush
Monticola solitarius
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderPasseriformes (Perching Birds)
- FamilyMuscicapidae (Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats)
- GenusMonticola (Rock-Thrushes)
- SpeciesMonticola solitarius (Blue Rock-Thrush)
About the Blue Rock-Thrush
The blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius) is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta.
The blue rock thrush was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Turdus solitarius. The type locality is Italy. The scientific name is from Latin. Monticola is from mons, montis "mountain", and colere, "to dwell", and the specific epithet solitarius means "solitary".
The rock thrush genus Monticola was formerly placed in the family Turdidae but molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the species in the genus are more closely related to members of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae.
There are five recognised subspecies: M. s. solitarius (Linnaeus, 1758) – northwest Africa, south Europe, north Turkey to Georgia and Azerbaijan. M. s. longirostris (Blyth, 1847) – Greece and west and south Turkey through the Middle East to the northwest Himalayas to northeast Africa and India
M. s. pandoo... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Manas National Park
Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush
Monticola rufiventris
Blue-capped Rock-Thrush
Monticola cinclorhynchus
Siberian Stonechat
Saxicola maurus
Oriental Magpie-Robin
Copsychus saularis
White-rumped Shama
Copsychus malabaricus
Taiga Flycatcher
Ficedula albicilla
Pale-chinned Blue-Flycatcher
Cyornis poliogenys
Blue Whistling-Thrush
Myophonus caeruleus
Small Niltava
Niltava macgrigoriae
Little Pied Flycatcher
Ficedula westermanni
Verditer Flycatcher
Eumyias thalassinus
White-capped Redstart
Chaimarrornis leucocephalus
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Blue Rock-Thrush in Manas National Park?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Rock-Thrush sighting in Manas National Park, based on 76 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Blue Rock-Thrush in Manas National Park?
January has the highest sighting rate for Blue Rock-Thrush in Manas National Park in our monthly data.