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
Bird colony (Enantiornithes), in sediments from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Romania. Approximately 13% of all bird species nest colonially. Nesting colonies are very common among seabirds on cliffs and islands. Nearly 95% of seabirds are colonial, leading to the usage, seabird colony, sometimes called a rookery. Many species of terns nest in colonies on the ground. Herons, egrets, storks, and other large waterfowl also nest communally in what are called heronries. Colony nesting may be an evolutionary response to a shortage of safe nesting sites and abundance or unpredictable food sources which are far away from the nest sites. Colony-nesting birds