White-browed bush chat explained

The white-browed bush chat (Saxicola macrorhynchus),^[1] also known as Stoliczka's bushchat, is an Old World flycatcher in the genus Saxicola. The alternative name is after the discoverer, geologist and explorer Ferdinand Stoliczka.

This desert specialist has a small, declining population because of agricultural intensification and encroachment, which qualifies it as vulnerable.

The white-browed bush chat is found in an area of semi-arid country in north-western India and eastern Pakistan.^[2] It has apparently strayed as far east as the Bharatpur area of Rajasthan and as far south as Goa and Pune,^[3] with two simultaneous historical records from southern Afghanistan.^[2]

Other sources

• BirdLife Species Factsheet.
• Red-Data Book Species Information
• Endangered and Threatened Birds of the World, a photo discussion by Don Roberson
• Urquhart, E. & Bowley, A. 2002. Stonechats. A Guide to the Genus Saxicola. Helm.

Notes and References

1. Saxicola is masculine leading to the species epithet ending in -us
2. News: Rare bird sighted after 98 long years. Sameer. Mandhro. The Express Tribune. 16 May 2020. 17 May 2020.
3. Rao, Rahul. 2007. Sighting of Stoliczka's Bushchat Saxicola macrorhynchus in Pune District, Maharashtra, Western India.. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.. 104. 2. 214.