Identification
Medium sized bird with characteristic patterns and colouring, especially when flying: white underparts and black upperparts with white bands on the closed wings and also white tail tips and uropygium (point where the tail joins the body). Head and nape orange-red in male and lighter in female which also appears somewhat less shiny black.
Juveniles have a general brownish tint with characteristic, beige to white bands on the closed wings and beige underparts with fine brown spots.
Distribution - Habitat
It spreads, as a summer visitor, to the southern regions of Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf region and areas on the coast of NW Africa. The entire population overwinters in Africa, in a wide zone immediately below the Sahara Desert.
It will be found in semi-open areas with trees and tall shrubs, so in sparse olive groves and their borders, crops with hedgerows and pine forest clearings, and the natural high shrublands of the island.
Interesting Information
- It feeds exclusively on large insects, such as grasshoppers, beetles and caterpillars. Also, occasionally, small lizards, rodents and birds.
- It observes its prey from elevated places (fences, bush tops, etc.), dives to capture it and returns to process it (remove hard indigestible parts such as head, legs) at the point where it started.
- The female also chirps, sometimes at the same time as the male.
- She lays 4-8 eggs that are laid by the female alone and hatch after 14-16 days. The young stay in the nest for about 18 days, although they are capable of leaving the nest if disturbed prematurely at 12 days of age!
- The young stay with their parents for up to 1.5 months after successfully leaving the nest and receive food and guidance from them in finding it.
- In most of its range in Europe it is classified as a protected species and is thought to have declined in population compared to the past due to changes in farming practices (removal of scattered trees and hedgerows) and the use of insecticides in agriculture.
- It is one from the first migratory chicks that arrive each spring!