Southern Europe, North Africa, central Asia, China, Japan and northern Phillippines, migrating south in the northern winter to Borneo, Sumatra, but rarely to New Guinea and Australia. One vagrant at Noosa Heads, Qld, 1997.
Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) [XC374779]
by Bultez Alain from Ille-sur-T\u00eat, Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es-Orientales, Occitanie, France (song, human voice)
Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) [XC684443]
by Oriental Stork from Delfi, Central Greece, Greece (song)
Breeding Season (Guide)
Does not breed in Australia. Breeds in southern Europe, North Africa, central Asia, China, Japan and northern Phillippines.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Subspecies
Separation of subspecies generally difficult. Characters tend to intergrade, suggesting that most, if not all, variation is clinal. Subspecies philippensis highly distinctive in plumage and to some extent apparently also in ecology, but intergradation extensive.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
solitarius (Linnaeus, 1758) - North-western Africa, southern Europe (east to Italy and northern Balkans), northern Turkey and Transcaucasia. Non-breeding also northern Africa and Arabia.
longirostris (Blyth, 1847) - Greece, western and southern Turkey and Levant to Tien Shan and north-western Himalayas. Non-breeding also north-eastern Africa east to northern India.
pandoo (Sykes, 1832) - Central Himalayas, central and eastern China (including Hainan) and northern Vietnam. Non-breeding southern and south-eastern Asia south to Greater Sundas.
philippensis (Müller, PLS, 1776) - Eastern Mongolia, north-eastern China, Korea, southern Sakhalin, southern Kuril Is, Japan, Ryukyu Is, and northern Philippines (Batanes Is). Non-breeding south-eastern China and Philippines south to Sundas.
madoci Chasen, 1940 - Extreme southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and northern Sumatra.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9
BirdLife International Species Factsheet