Blue Rock Thrush

This species is defined as a Review Species . Please submit your records of this species via our record submission page .

Scientific Name: Monticola solitarius

Malay Name: Tarum Biasa

Chinese Name: 蓝矶鸫

Range: Found from southern Europe to Northwest Africa, Middle East, Indian subcontinent, China, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Taxonomy: Polytypic. Subspecies are: solitarius, longirostris, pandoo, philippensis, madoci.

Local Subspecies: philippensis, pandoo

Size: 21-23 cm

Identification: Non-breeding male has dull greyish-blue plumage with blackish and white bars/scales and distinctive chestnut lower breast to vent while breeding male is bluer overall and lacks bars/scales. Female and juvenile resemble male but lack the chestnut plumage.

Habitat: Forest and mostly in urban areas.

Behaviour/Ecology: Attracted to gardens located in high-rise buildings.

Local Status: Rare migrant

Conservation Status: Least Concern (BirdLife International 2016)

Featured articles:

Featured reports: Sep 2022, Dec 2022, Jan 2023, Sep 2023, Oct 2023

Past records in our database:

Showing only accepted records. Note that records currently under review are also not displayed, and the list may not be a full list of records of this species in Singapore. For more details, check the database here.

Migrant bar chart (see more bar charts):

Blue Rock Thrush Monticola solitarius
Average number of individuals by week based on Singapore Bird Database data, Jul 2013 to Jun 2023 (all records)
Peak week Dec 24-Dec 30
Early date 02 Sep 2015
Late date 19 Mar 2021
A bird with an affinity for high-rise gardens in Singapore, as well as one of the earlier migrants, with many records in Sep. Look out for the rarer pandoo race, which has all-blue underparts.
Male Blue Rock Thrush at Sentosa. Photo Credit: Francis Yap
Subadult male Blue Rock Thrush at Sentosa. Photo Credit: Jonathan Cheah
Subadult male Blue Rock Thrush at Sentosa. Photo Credit: Jonathan Cheah
Male Blue Rock Thrush at Pinnacle@Duxton. Photo Credit: Alan Ng
Male Blue Rock Thrush at Sentosa. Photo Credit: Francis Yap
Male Blue Rock Thrush at Pinnacle@Duxton. Photo Credit: Alan Ng
Subadult male Blue Rock Thrush at Sentosa. Photo Credit: Jonathan Cheah
Male Blue Rock Thrush at Sentosa. Photo Credit: Francis Yap

External Links:

Conservation Status: IUCN Red List Page

Sound Recordings: xeno-canto Link

Wikipedia Entry: Wikipedia Link

eBird Species page: eBird (Blue Rock-Thrush)

References:

BirdLife International. (2016). Monticola solitarius. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22708286A87933903.en. Accessed on 1 January 2023

Robson, C. (2014). Field guide to the birds of South-East Asia (Second Edition). Bloomsbury Publishing, London.

Wells, D. R. (1999). The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula (Vol. 1). Academic Press, London.

RECOMMENDED CITATION

Bird Society of Singapore. (n.d.). Blue Rock Thrush. Retrieved on November 25, 2023 from https://singaporebirds.com/species/blue-rock-thrush.

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