The Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta (the word for it in Maltese being Merill).

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The brightly coloured male Blue-capped Rock Thrush is unmistakable with his black mask, sky-blue head, and orange rump and underparts. The female is not as striking and is a gray-brown with scaled underparts and faint white eye crescents very similar to the larger female Chestnut-bellied Rock-Thrush, but lacking the prominent white “ear crescents”. It has less densely-patterned underparts, and averages paler overall. It breeds in hilly and montane areas, particularly open dry forests and rocky slopes with scattered trees. Descends in the winter favouring secondary forests and plantations. The Blue-capped forages in trees and on the ground, often searching for prey from snags or telephone wires. It usually moves with mixed-species flocks in the winter.

#wildartworks, #Canon, #Bird, #Birdinginthewild, #BirdWatching, #Wildlife, #WildBirds, #naturephotography, #your_best_birds, #planetbirds, #earthcapture, #photo_pond, #earthpix, #naturyst, #conservationphotography, #yesbbcearth, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @awpc.hk, @globalcapture, #india, #umamaheshwaramtemple, #achampet, #rockthrush, #bluecappedrockthrush, #chat, #telanganabirds, #oldworldflycatcher, #nallamallaforest, #ananthagiri, #thrush