Blue rock thrush

Short description: Species of bird

Blue rock thrush

Male M. s. solitarius
Female M. s. solitarius

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]

Scientific classification
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Chordata
Class:  | Aves
Order:  | Passeriformes
Family:  | Muscicapidae
Genus:  | Monticola
Species:  |

M. solitarius

Binomial name
Monticola solitarius

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Range of M. solitarius

Breeding

Resident

Passage

Non-breeding

Vagrant (seasonality uncertain)

Synonyms

Turdus solitarius Linnaeus, 1758

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.

## Contents

* 1 Taxonomy
* 2 Description
* 2.1 Vocalizations
* 2.2 Similar species
* 3 Distribution and habitat
* 4 Behaviour
* 5 In culture
* 6 Gallery
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## Taxonomy

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.[2] The type locality is Italy.[3] The scientific name is from Latin. Monticola is from mons, montis "mountain", and colere, "to dwell", and the specific epithet solitarius means "solitary".[4]

The rock thrush genus Monticola was formerly placed in the family Turdidae[5] 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.[6]

There are five recognised subspecies:[7][8]

* 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 (Sykes, 1832) – central Himalayas to east China and north Vietnam to Greater Sunda Islands
* M. s. philippensis (Statius Müller, 1776) – east Mongolia to Sakhalin south to Japan, extreme north Philippines and northeast China to Indonesia
* M. s. madoci Chasen, 1940 – Malay Peninsula and north Sumatra

There is a proposal to split Monticola solitarius into two species. The ground work for this was two papers published in 2004 and 2007. The 2004 paper by Voelker and Spellman laid the groundwork at the genus and family level, Muscicapidae.[9] The 2007 paper by Outlaw and Voelker refined monophyly and phylogeny.[10] The first formal proposal for the split was in 2010 by Zuccon and Ericson, which proposed a western taxon comprising M. s. solitarius and M. s. longirostris and an eastern taxon with M. s. philippensis, M. s. pandoo and M. s. madoci Zuccon and Ericson proposed the two species names be M. solitarius s.s. and M. philippensis.[11] As of early 2026 there is still no agreement on the split, a major reason being that the five subspecies can interbreed.[12][13]

Male blue rock thrush of subspecies M. s. philippensis showing rufous underbelly

## Description

The blue rock thrush is a starling-sized bird, 21–23 cm (8.3–9.1 in) in length with a long slim bill. The breeding male of the nominate subspecies is unmistakable, with all blue-grey plumage apart from its darker wings.[5] Females and immatures are much less striking, with dark brown upperparts, and paler brown scaly underparts. The male of the subspecies M. s. philippensis has rufous-chestnut plumage from the mid-breast down to the undertail.[5] Both sexes lack the reddish outer tail feathers of rock thrush.

### Vocalizations

Songs and calls

* * *

Listen to the blue rock thrush on xeno-canto

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The male blue rock thrush sings a clear, melodious call that is similar to, but louder than, the call of the rock thrush.[14][15]

The Europe and Asia groups both have a "short song and a long song, consisting of similar melodious whistles, trills and more burry notes."[15] Generally, the vocalizations are similar in both groups. Basic sound traits generally overlap, such as phrase duration, note length, and min./max. frequency. Several notes are identical. The long song is a bit more common in the Asia group.[5][15] Among populations in Indonesia, there are four basic calls. "The fundamental call frequency appeared to be concentrated around 1.6 kHz, but weak components of the spectrum reached to approximately 4 kHz. The structure of the four call types was quite different: 1) the shape of the spectra differed considerably; 2) the frequency of maximum sound energy was between 1.2 and 1.8 kHz; 3) the duration of the calls varied between 200 and 1500 ms; 4) the-10dB bandwidth was in the range between 900 Hz and 1300 Hz."[14]

### Similar species

Monticola is a monophyletic clade as all member species share a common ancestor. M. solitarius are especially similar to:[10] Blue-capped rock thrush (M. cinclorhynchus, distinguished by a bright blue head and chestnut belly),[16] Chestnut-bellied Rock Thrush (M. rufiventris, distinguished by a chestnut belly),[17] Common rock thrush-also known as Rufous-tailed rock thrush (M. saxatilis, distinguished by blue-grey head, white back patch, chestnut belly),[18] Little rock thrush (M. rufocinereus, distinguished by blue-grey upper and orange belly),[19] and White-throated rock thrush (M. gularis, distinguished by blue head, orange belly, and white patch on black wings).[20]

## Distribution and habitat

The European, north African and southeast Asian birds are mainly resident, apart from altitudinal movements. Other Asian populations are more migratory, wintering in sub-Saharan Africa, India and southeast Asia. This bird is a very uncommon visitor to northern and western Europe. There is some overlap in breeding and wintering ranges with the common rock thrush (Monticola saxatilis); Palearctic and southwestern Asia for breeding and northern Africa for wintering.[21] It is known to have been spotted in North America twice: once in British Columbia in 1997 and once in Oregon and the Farallon Islands in 2024.[22][23] It is unclear whether the Oregon and Farallon Islands spottings were the same bird.[24] It is highly unlikely that the British Columbia sighting was the same individual bird as the Orgegon/Farallon Islands sighting as the blue rock thrush typically lives 5-10 years in the wild.[25]

Choi, et al., conducted a study of blue rock thrush population on Hongdo Island, South Korea from 2005-2009. The species arrives in spring and disappeared in autumn, indicating that the Hongdo population is migratory rather than resident. Breeding density was estimated at about 8 breeding pairs per km², and individual territories averaged about 2.87 hectares. The species showed a strong preference for rocky cliffs for their homes, especially exposed rock faces. They concluded habitat structure was more important than food availabity.[26]

In the first confirmed case of successful urban nesit by M. solitarius, Rouibi, et al., conducted a study of M. solitarius in El Bouni, Algeria over three breeding seasons from 2016- 2018. They found the species made a nest beneath the roof of a residential building, which is very different from its usual rocky cliffs, escarpments, and coastal outcrops.[27] Pairs have also been found living in urban areas in Malta.[28]

## Behaviour

The blue rock thrush breeds in open mountainous areas. It nests in rock cavities and walls, and usually lays 3–5 eggs. An omnivore, the blue rock thrush eats a wide variety of insects and small reptiles in addition to berries and seeds.[5]

## In culture

The blue rock thrush is deeply imbedded in Maltese culture (the word for it in Maltese being Merill). It became the national bird in 1971. It was on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency.[29] It has also inspired place names, songs, stamps, cartoons, poems and literature, and old expressions about talkativeness. It is also the name of a high income fund and a child care center.[28]

## Gallery

* Male in January, Gamla Nature Reserve, Israel

* Monticola solitarius solitarius – MHNT

* Male foraging in Japan

## References

1. ↑ BirdLife International (2016). "Monticola solitarius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22708286A87933903.en. https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22708286/87933903. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
2. ↑ Linnaeus, C. (1758) (in la). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. 1. Holmiae (Stockholm): Laurentii Salvii. p. 170. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727077.
3. ↑ Mayr, Ernst; Paynter Jr., Raymond A. (1964). Check-list of Birds of the World. 10. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 138. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14486327.
4. ↑ Jobling, James A. (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. pp. 260, 359. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4. https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Collar, N.J. (2005). "Family Turdidae (Thrushes)". in del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Christie, D.A.. Handbook of the Birds of the World. 10: Cuckoo-shrikes to Thrushes. Barcelona, Spain: Lynx Edicions. pp. 514-807 [515]. ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6. https://archive.org/details/handbookofbirdso0010unse/page/515/mode/1up.
6. ↑ Sangster, G.; Alström, P.; Forsmark, E.; Olsson, U. (2010). "Multi-locus phylogenetic analysis of Old World chats and flycatchers reveals extensive paraphyly at family, subfamily and genus level (Aves: Muscicapidae)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 57 (1): 380–392. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.07.008. PMID 20656044. Bibcode: 2010MolPE..57..380S.
7. ↑ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds (2016). "Chats, Old World flycatchers". World Bird List Version 6.2. International Ornithologists' Union. http://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/chats/.
8. ↑ Collar, N. (2020). "Blue Rock-thrush (Monticola solitarius)". in del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J. et al.. Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions. doi:10.2173/bow.burthr.01. http://www.hbw.com/node/58415. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
9. ↑ Voelker, Gary; Spellman, Garth M. (February 2004). "Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA evidence of polyphyly in the avian superfamily Muscicapoidea". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 30 (2): 386–394. doi:10.1016/s1055-7903(03)00191-x. PMID 14715230.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Outlaw, Robert K.; Voelker, Gary; Outlaw, Diana C. (April 2007). "Molecular Systematics and Historical Biogeography of the Rock-Thrushes (Muscicapidae: Monticola)". The Auk 124 (2): 561–577. doi:10.1093/auk/124.2.561.
11. ↑ Zuccon, D.; Ericson, Per G.P. (2010). "The Monticola rock-thrushes: phylogeny and biogeography revisited". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 55 (3): 901–910. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.009. PMID 20079862. Bibcode: 2010MolPE..55..901Z.
12. ↑ "Blue Rock Thrush". Birds of the World. 4 March 2020. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/burthr/cur/introduction.
13. ↑ "Blue Rock Thrush (solitarius)". AviBase. https://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/species.jsp?avibaseid=D252045796DEAC34.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Saiya, Halvina; Verboom, Willem (August 2020). "Indonesian bird vocalizations: the Blue Rock-Thrush (Monticola solitarius philippensis)". Research Gate. doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.30061.61928. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343697242_Indonesian_bird_vocalizations_the_Blue_Rock-Thrush_Monticola_solitarius_philippensis.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Boesman, Peter F. D. (28 July 2016). "Notes on the vocalizations of Blue Rock-thrush (Monticola solitarius)". Birds of the World. https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/ornith-notes/JN100331.
16. ↑ "Blue-capped Rock-Thrush". eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://ebird.org/species/bcrthr1. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
17. ↑ "Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush". eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://ebird.org/species/cbrthr1. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
18. ↑ "Rufous-tailed Rock-Thrush". eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://ebird.org/species/rtrthr1. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
19. ↑ "Little Rock-Thrush". eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://ebird.org/species/lirthr1. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
20. ↑ "White-throated Rock Thrush". eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology. https://ebird.org/species/wtrthr1. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
21. ↑ Outlaw, Robert K.; Voelker, Gary; Outlaw, Diana C. (1 April 2007). "Molecular Systematics and Historical Biogeography of the Rock-Thrushes (Muscicapidae: Monticola)". The Auk 124 (2): 563. doi:10.1093/auk/124.2.561.
22. ↑ Eichenberg, Gretchen (May 1, 2024). "Oregon teacher captures images of 'very rare' bird never before seen in US". https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/oregon-teacher-captures-images-very-rare-bird-never-before-seen-us.
23. ↑ Kuta, Sarah (May 1, 2024). "Extremely Rare Blue Rock Thrush Spotted in Oregon Might Be the First Ever in the United States". https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/extremely-rare-blue-rock-thrush-spotted-in-oregon-might-be-the-first-ever-in-the-united-states-180984256/.
24. ↑ Bowman, Emma (3 May 2024). "Hobbyist photographer snaps photo of extremely rare bird in 1st U.S. sighting" (in en). National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2024/05/03/1248845648/rare-bird-oregon-blue-rock-thrush.
25. ↑ "Blue Rock-thrush". Bird Fact. https://birdfact.com/birds/blue-rock-thrush.
26. ↑ Choi, Chang-Yong (2011). "Migration and habitat use of breeding Blue Rock Thrushes on Hongdo Island, Korea". Korean Journal of Ornithology 18 (1): 17–33. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274072671_Migration_and_Habitat_Use_of_Breeding_Blue_Rock_Thrushes_on_Hongdo_Island_Korea. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
27. ↑ Rouibi, Abdelhakim (2020). "Nesting of Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) in an urban area in North Africa". International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies 7 (1): 78–82. https://www.faunajournal.com/archives/2020.v7.i1.B.665/nesting-of-blue-rock-thrush-monticola-solit3arius-in-an-urban-area-in-north-africa. Retrieved 18 January 2026.
28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Fenech, Natalino; Sammut, Michael (2022). "Blue Rock Thrush urban expansion Malta". U.D.I. via Research Gate 47: 23-6. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/375633438_Blue_Rock_Thrush_urban_expansion_Malta. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
29. ↑ "Blue Rock Thrush" (PDF). BioSnippet (Environment & Resources Authority) 23 (9). 2019. https://era.org.mt/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/BioSnippet_23-Blue_Rock_Thrush.pdf. Retrieved 29 July 2025.

## External links

* Blue rock thrush videos, photos & sounds on the Internet Bird Collection
* Ageing and sexing by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze
* Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the blue rock thrush

Wikidata ☰ Q152144 entry

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