Sitting on the sand a few days ago at the beautiful Praia dos Caneiros, accessed from the coastal road between Carvoeiro and Ferragudo, I was thinking about what my next article would be when I was distracted by a beautiful song echoing off the steep vertical cliffs.
Usually, this bird is a little shy around humans, but this male was happily singing from the rocks of the cliffs. It was easy to spot the stunning bright breeding plumage of this male blue rock thrush.
This bird is very often missed as it may appear to the viewer as a blackbird due to the similar size, but in the bright sun, particularly during the breeding season, it is hard to miss the blue feathers of the male. He is totally blue with black wings. The female is even more difficult as she is dark brown but does have some blue hints too.
Another giveaway is the beak – it’s long and black. I often notice the male perched with it slightly open. Both sexes grow up to 23cm in length. Juveniles have the appearance similar to the female. Outside the breeding season, the bright blue of the male fades to a darker, duller blue.
The blue rock thrush is a resident bird and does not migrate, however, may move location locally throughout the year. As the name suggests, they like rocky terrain to build nests in cavities, but this also includes holes in the walls of ruins.
Whilst they like the rocky terrain of the serra, they also like the perfect rocky cliffs of the Algarve coast and, therefore, can be easily spotted along the south coast.
As already mentioned, I spotted a male at Praia dos Caneiros, but I have also seen a breeding couple at Praia da Nossa da Rocha, near Porches, and on the cliffs of Praia da Rocha.
Belonging to the Chat family, the blue rock thrush has five subspecies found throughout the world. The species found in Southern Europe is the Monticola solitarius, which translates to solitary mountain dweller. They are never spotted in flocks.
Both sexes prefer to perch in the open atop rocks, telegraph poles, roofs and wires making them easy to spot. They are very territorial and will chase away other species of birds. They will swoop on prey on the ground consisting of insects, spiders and reptiles, however, they will also catch flying prey inflight. Being omnivores, they also consume fruit and seeds.
Both sexes sing, but the male is “loud and proud” being very melodic, similar to a blackbird, but easily recognisably different and, during the breeding season (February to June), the singing is more prolonged. Singing is performed whilst perched and inflight. A couple can have two broods during the year, in spring and the beginning of summer.
Next time you hear a loud melodic call, keep a look out for what may be the beautiful Bluebird of Portugal.
By Craig Rogers
|| [email protected]
Craig Rogers is a wildlife and nature photographer from Wales now living in the Algarve, offering photography workshops. For more information, photographs and his blog visit www.craigrogers.photograp
