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
Kite (bird) Kite (bird) Kite is a common name for certain birds of prey in the family Accipitridae, particularly in subfamilies Milvinae, Elaninae, and Perninae. Some authors use the terms "hovering kite" and "soaring kite" to distinguish between "Elanus" and the milvine kites, respectively. The groups may also be differentiated by size, referring to milvine kites as "large kites", and elanine kites as "small kites". A few of the traditional Perninae" "are also called kites. In 1824, Vigors proposed five divisions or "stirpes" of the family Falconidae: Aquilina (eagles), Accipitrina (hawks), Falconina (falcons), Buteonina (buzzards) and Milvina (kites, containing two genera "Elanus"