European stonechat are short-distance migrants or non-migratory, with part of the population (particularly from northeastern parts of the range, where winters are colder) moving south to winter further south in Europe and more widely in north Africa. The male's song is high and twittering like a dunnock. Both sexes have a clicking call like stones knocking together. In 2015, John Callion published the results of his 25-year study of the bird in "British Birds. European stonechat The European stonechat ("Saxicola rubicola") is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a subspecies of the common stonechat. Long considered a member of
The Golden Bird mythical beasts, a Sultan's game of hide-and-seek and his marriage with the Sultan's beautiful daughter. The Golden Bird "The Golden Bird" is a Brothers Grimm fairy tale, number 57, about the pursuit of a golden bird by a gardener's three sons. A French version, collected by Paul Sébillot in "Littérature orale de la Haute-Bretagne", is called "Le Merle d'or" (The Golden Blackbird). Andrew Lang included that variant in "The Green Fairy Book" (1892). It is Aarne-Thompson folktale type 550, "The Golden Bird", a Supernatural Helper. Other tales of this type include "The Bird 'Grip'", "The Greek Princess and the Young