Pivot Fields, Dubai, UAE
November 2010

The Stonechat breeds in western, central and southern Europe, much of Asia north of the Himalayas and in sub-Saharan Africa. It is partly migratory with, for example, the more northerly breeding populations in Europe migrating to the Mediterranean Basin during the winter. See the distribution map at Birdlife International.

The bird in these photos look like a European Stonechat S. t. rubicola which was not recorded in the UAE before 2006. The Siberian Stonechat S. t. maurus is a common winter visitor but it has a deeper white collar and is much paler below.