{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{speciesbox | name = Common rock thrush | image = Monsax.jpg | image_caption = male, Spain | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Monticola saxatilis'' |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T22708257A111788908 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-1.RLTS.T22708257A111788908.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Monticola | species = saxatilis | authority = (Linnaeus, 1766) | synonyms = ''Turdus saxatilis'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1766}} | range_map = MonticolaSaxatilisIUCNver2019 1.png | range_map_caption = Range of ''M. saxatilis''{{leftlegend|#00FF00|Breeding|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#00FFFF|Passage|outline=gray}} {{leftlegend|#007FFF|Non-breeding|outline=gray}} }}

The '''common rock thrush''' ('''''Monticola saxatilis'''''),<ref>[http://www.worldbirdnames.org/updates-en.html English Name Updates - IOC Version 2.9 (July 10, 2011)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303183421/http://www.worldbirdnames.org/updates-en.html |date=March 3, 2012 }}, IOC World Bird List</ref> also known as the '''rufous-tailed rock thrush''' or simply '''rock thrush''', is a species of chat that breeds in southern Europe across Central Asia to northern China. This species is strongly migratory, all populations wintering in Africa south of the Sahara. It is an uncommon visitor to northern Europe. Its range has contracted somewhat at the periphery in recent decades due to habitat destruction. For example, in the early 20th century it bred in the Jura Krakowsko-Częstochowska (Poland) where none occur today,<ref>Tomek, Teresa & Bocheński, Zygmunt (2005): "[http://www.ingentaconnect.com/search/download?pub=infobike%3a%2f%2fisez%2fazc%2f2005%2f00000048%2fF0020001%2fart00005&mimetype=application%2fpdf Weichselian and Holocene bird remains from Komarowa Cave, Central Poland]". ''Acta zoologica cracoviensia'' '''48A'''(1-2): 43-65.</ref> but it is not considered globally endangered.<ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021" />

==Taxonomy== The common rock thrush was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Turdus saxatilis''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1766 | title=Systema naturae: per regna tria natura, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=12th | volume=1, Part 1 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | page=294 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/42946490 }}</ref> Linnaeus cited an earlier description by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | chapter=Le Petit Merle de Roche | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | volume=2 | language=French, Latin | pages=240-242 | location=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36011488 }} The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.</ref> The common rock thrush is now one of 15 species placed in the genus ''Monticola'' that was introduced in 1822 by the German naturalist Friedrich Boie. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=February 2025 | title=Chats, Old World flycatchers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 15.1 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/chats/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=5 September 2025}}</ref> The scientific name is from Latin: ''Monticola'' is from ''mons, montis'' "mountain", and ''colere'', "to dwell", and ''saxatilis'' means "rock-frequenting", from ''saxum'', "stone" .<ref name =job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A. | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London, United Kingdom | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n260 260], 348}}.</ref><ref>{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=saxatilis | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=saxatilis | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=5 September 2025 }}</ref> The type locality is Switzerland.<ref>{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Paynter | editor2-first=Raymond A. Jr | year=1964 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=10 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=137 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14486326 }}</ref>

==Description== This is a medium-sized but stocky thrush 17–20&nbsp;cm in length. The summer male is unmistakable, with a blue-grey head, orange underparts and outer tail feathers, dark brown wings and white back. Females and immatures are much less striking, with dark brown scaly upperparts, and paler brown scaly underparts. The outer tail feathers are reddish, like the male.<ref name=Clement>Clement, Peter & Hathaway, Ren (2000): ''Thrushes''. Christopher Helm, London. {{ISBN|0-7136-3940-7}}</ref>

==Behaviour and ecology== This species breeds in open dry hilly areas, usually above 1500&nbsp;m. It nests in rock cavities, laying 4–5 eggs. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, berries and small reptiles. The male common rock thrush has a clear and tuneful song.<ref name=Clement/>

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Common rock thrush.jpg|Common rock thrush, Boulmane de Dades, Morocco File:Monticola saxatilis MWNH 1830.JPG|Eggs, Collection Museum Wiesbaden </gallery>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *{{Commons category-inline|Monticola saxatilis}} *[http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/rufous-tailed.rock.thrush.html Oiseaux] Photos, map, text.{{in lang|fr}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20141202064309/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/341_RockThrushMsaxatilis.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 1.2 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze] *[https://archive.today/20130103024426/http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=5844 Handbook of the Birds of the World] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20071030201944/http://www.birdguides.com/html/vidlib/species/Monticola_saxatilis.htm BirdGuides] *[https://search.macaulaylibrary.org/catalog?taxonCode=rtrthr1&mediaType=a&q=Common%20Rock%20Thrush%20-%20Monticola%20saxatilis Macaulay Library] *[http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/spec/spec138-12.html Mangoverde]; direct link [http://www.soortenbank.nl/soorten.php?soortengroep=vogels&id=316&tab=multimedia here]

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common rock thrush Category:Birds of Eurasia Category:Wintering birds of Africa Category:Wintering birds of East Africa common rock thrush Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus