Listen to the Whinchat
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the Whinchat
The Whinchat is a bird in the family Muscicapidae (order Passeriformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 22 cm and weigh around 2 g.
What does the Whinchat sound like?
Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round. Listening for both helps with identification.
The recordings here are labelled as song. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in central Africa. At one time considered to be in the thrush family, Turdidae, it is now placed in the Old World flycatcher family, Muscicapidae. Both sexes have a strong supercilium, brownish upper parts mottled darker, a pale throat and breast, a pale buff to whitish belly, and a blackish tail with white bases to the outer tail feathers, but in the breeding season, the male has an orange-buff throat and breast.
Related birds in the genus Saxicola
More from the family Muscicapidae
European robin
Erithacus rubecula
Common nightingale
Luscinia megarhynchos
Bluethroat
Luscinia svecica
Common redstart
Phoenicurus phoenicurus
Northern wheatear
Oenanthe oenanthe
Black redstart
Phoenicurus ochruros
Spotted flycatcher
Muscicapa striata
Blue rock thrush
Monticola solitarius
Red-breasted flycatcher
Ficedula parva
Thrush nightingale
Luscinia luscinia
Frequently asked questions
What does a Whinchat sound like?
You can hear 2 recordings of the Whinchat on this page, including its song. Most birds have two kinds of vocalisation: songs, which are learned or innate phrases delivered mainly in spring and summer, and calls – brief contact, alarm and begging notes heard all year round.
Is the Whinchat endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Whinchat as “least concern”.
What family does the Whinchat belong to?
The Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) belongs to the family Muscicapidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources & credits
- Song · Le Reposoir, Haute-Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France by Olivier Grimm – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Song · Münster VS, Goms, Wallis, Switzerland by Pascal Christe – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q155869 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Whinchat – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Artur Mikołajewski – CC BY 2.5