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
Common nightingale Common nightingale The common nightingale or simply nightingale ("Luscinia megarhynchos"), also known as rufous nightingale, is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats. "Nightingale" is derived from "night", and the Old English "galan", "to sing". The genus name "Luscinia" is Latin for "nightingale" and "megarhynchos" is from Ancient Greek "megas", "great" and "rhunkhos" "bill". The common nightingale is