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SCIENTIFIC NAME: Monticola saxatilis.

FAMILY: Turdidae.

DESCRIPTION: A medium-sized thrush with a stocky appearance. A male can be seen in the picture,  The female is dark in colour and mottled. Both birds have a reddish tail.
 

STATUS IN ARAGON: E Nr(Summer visitor – Breeds regularly).

BREEDING PROBABILITY: Breeding highly likely.

REPRODUCTIVE: Yes.
 

LOCAL STATUS: Summer visitor.

MONTHS : May to august.

ECOSYSTEMS: Rupicolous - Pastures, meadows and crops

DIET AND FEEDING: It mainly lives in sloping alpine meadows, and lower areas with rocky crevices and thin vegetation, feeding on insects, other small animals and also berries.

HABITS: The Common Rock Thrush can be found in the mountainous regions of central and southern Europe. In the Pyrenees it nests at altitudes of up to 2500 metres, and is found in greater numbers in the inner mountain ranges, avoiding the valley floor. Between April and May the birds fly back from Africa to spend four months in this part of the Pyrenees until they are ready to fly off again in August. The male can be heard singing from its perch until the end of June. In mid summer families can be seen with their fledgling chicks, foraging for food on the ground. 

THREAT OF EXTINCTION + CRITERION: CNEA (National Catalogue of Endangered Species): Not classified: CREA: Not included.

ROUTES: 3 (Zuriza - Achar de Alano), 4 (Selva de Oza), 7 (Las Blancas), 8 (Somport) y 13 (San Juan de la Peña).

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION: Submediterranean scrubland, high mediterranean scrub, pastures, and subalpine and alpine rock faces and stony outcrops of less than 2000 metres.