One of the most colourful and conspicuous birds in our countryside in winter is the Stonechat, called Bucaqq or Bucaqcaq in Maltese. Ornithologists later added tax-xitwa to its name, to distinguish it from a similar species which occurs in Malta in the spring. Its Maltese name is derived from the rather raspy call it utters, usually while it sits in an exposed twig. One of the more colloquial names, Zincaq, more accurately describes its call.

The adult male Stonechat has a black head with large white patches on side of neck. It’s under parts are orange-chestnut and some often confuse it with the Robin, as some have very bright orange chests.  The female is a drabber version of the male and lacks the white rump and neck patch.

The Stonechat is one of the 27 birds that were already ‘strictly’ protected by Maltese law in 1916. The 1916 list also included the Blue Rock Thrush (Merill), Barn Owl (Barbagann), Swallow (Huttafa) and several other warblers which were deemed to be beneficial to agriculture.

As a species, the Stonechat is very widespread as it breeds from Britain, across Eurasia to Japan.  It also breeds in northwest Africa and much of sub-Saharan Africa. Western populations are residents or partial migratory but the eastern population is highly migratory.

Stonechats are very common autumn migrants, arriving in late September and October, with some remaining throughout winter until early March, when fresh arrivals can also be noticed because birds that winter in Africa start their way back to their breeding grounds in Europe. It is mostly encountered in open country and cultivated areas.   

Like many other species which spend the winter with us, the birds that survive are likely to return to the same sites where they had spent the previous winter.

Advances in science, especially DNA sequencing, are having a considerable impact on recognising new species. Several species of birds have what are known as subspecies, that is, species in the making. The characteristics attributed to subspecies generally have evolved as a result of geographical distribution or isolation. Subspecies eventually start being recognised as species in their own right because there would be marked differences between the two races

The race of Stonechat that occurs locally is the Saxicola torquatus rubicola, which is found in north-west Africa, southern and central Europe, and east to Turkey and Transcaucasia. Another sub species of Stonechat has been recorded in our Islands. This is Saxicola torquatus maurus.

Some taxonomists have already started to treat this race as a good species, calling is Siberian Stonechat or Eastern Stonechat, but there is not recognition throughout Europe for this yet. There are only four records of this latter bird having visited our islands.