NATURE FOCUS CHATS
TURDIDAE is a large and diverse family of birds which can be broadly split into two groups, the large “true” thrushes, and the chats (formerly known as chat-thrushes) and wheatears.
Chats and wheatears are small and generally slender, robin-like birds and are grounddwelling birds foraging on small insects. The robin is the most familiar garden chat and can become very tame whilst other species are much shyer. Apart from the robin, regularly occurring chats in the UK are redstart, black redstart, nightingale, winchat and stonechat all of which breed in the UK. There are number of other occasional/vagrant specie such a blue-throat, and red-flanked bluetail.
The European stonechat Saxicola rubicola is slightly smaller and dumpier than a robin and has a large head and short tail. Male stonechats have a black head, brown back, black throat with a white half-collar, and orange-red breast. Females and juveniles are paler. Females lack the male’s black head but have brown backs and an orange tinge to their chests. Birds are frequently seen flicking their wings while perched, often doing so on the tops of low bushes.
As its name suggests, the birds utter a sharp loud call that sound like two stones being tapped together. They feed on invertebrates, seeds and fruit, such as blackberries.
They are resident on heathlands, bogs and conifer plantations throughout the country and breed in southern parts of the UK. However, in winter they disperse wider afield and can also be found around the coast and at wetlands during the winter. They occasionally appear in Nottinghamshire in autumn, winter, and spring although not in high numbers and tend to be seen in singles often frequent current or restored gravel pit sites such as the Trust’s reserves at Besthorpe, Skylarks, Attenborough and Idle Valley.
The numbers can vary from year to year and Nottinghamshire Birdwatchers report that in the second half of the 1990s numbers did not exceed seven in any year whilst between 2000 and 2009 annual numbers averaged 49 peaking at 68. However, since 2010 annual sightings have generally fallen to single figures. In the early 1900s there were some confirmed reports of breeding in the Sherwood Forest and Dukeries areas of the county.
The win chat Saxicola rubetra is generally paler than its close relation, the stonechat. the whinchat has a distinctive pale eye-stripe and a pale throat. They are summer visitors to the north and west but can turn up anywhere during migration in the spring and autumn. They winter in central and southern Africa. Males are streaky brown above, with an orange chest, but females are paler. Whinchats have pale patches at the base of the tail, while Stonechat tails are completely dark. Like stonechats they can frequently be seen sitting on fence posts or small bushes, making a soft clicking call.
Whinchats inhabit open meadows and wasteland, wet habitats, and dry heath. They are summer and passage migrants, wintering in Africa and it is classed as uncommon passage migrant in Nottinghamshire and a small number of birds are seen on passage with numbers fluctuating from year to year.