Common Stonechat
(Saxicola torquatus)
Category of conservation concern (IUCN, 2020) – Least Concern
Population size: 3 000 – 6 000 pairs
Distribution pattern
With patchy distribution throughout the country without the forested plains and mountains. More compact in South-eastern Bulgaria, the Black Sea coast, the Eastern Stara Planina, Sredna Gora, the Sofia Field and the mountains around Vitosha, the valleys of the rivers Struma and Mesta, in places along the Danube River and North-western Bulgaria, etc. Dispersed mainly in the Danubian Plain and in places in the Thracian Plain. Although locally, the species also breeds in the high mountains above the tree line of the forests – in the mountains Vitosha, Slavyanka, Stara Planina, Osogovo Mountain, etc.
Comparative distribution of the species compared to the first breeding birds atlas (Iankov, 2007): Breeding locality until 2007 | Breeding locality until 2007, confirmed after 2015 – | New breeding locality after 2015. – The breeding localities after 2015 are identified on a base of raw data from smartbirds.org.
Habitats
Breeds in various open and shrubby habitats in hilly areas or flat landscapes, mainly in sclerophyllous scrub, dry siliceous grasslands, mesophilic grasslands, and shrubs in temperate climates, wastelands, rarely in alpine and subalpine grasslands and other grassland crops, as well as in places with higher grasses and shrubs on the outskirts of towns, villages and industrial zones.
Trends in population changes for the period 2013-2020
Not analysed
Threats
Not analysed