Pied Bush Chat

The **pied bush chat** (*Saxicola caprata*) is a small passerine bird found ranging from West Asia and Central Asia to the Indian subcontinentand Southeast Asia. About sixteen subspecies are recognized through its wide range with many island forms. It is a familiar bird of countryside and open scrub or grassland where it is found perched at the top of short thorn trees or other shrubs, looking out for insect prey. They pick up insects mainly from the ground, and were, like other chats, placed in the thrush family Turdidae, but are now considered as Old World flycatchers.

They nest in cavities in stone walls or in holes in an embankment, lining the nest with grass and animal hair. The males are black with white shoulder and vent patches whose extent varies among populations. Females are predominantly brownish while juveniles are speckled.

## Description

At 13cm, the pied bush chat is slightly smaller than the Siberian stonechat, *Saxicola maurus*, although it has a similar dumpy structure and upright stance. The male is black except for a white rump, wing patch and lower belly. The iris is dark brown, the bill and legs black. The female is drab brown and slightly streaked. Juveniles have a scaly appearance on the underside but dark above like the females.

A number of geographic populations have been given subspecies status:

* nominate *caprata* (Linnaeus, 1766) is found in Luzon and Mindoro, in the Philippines.
* *rossorum* (Hartert, 1910) is found in NE Iran SC Kazakhstan S to Afghanistan and Baluchistan; migrant in SW Asia (vagrant in Arabia, Israel).(shows more white below than *bicolor*, described by Hartert, Jour. f. Orn. 1910:180 but not always recognized)
* *bicolor* Sykes, 1832 is found in SE Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and N India; migrating to central India and possibly southern India.
* *burmanicus* Stuart Baker, 1922 is found in peninsular India E to Myanmar and S China (S Sichuan, Yunnan), S to Thailand and Indochina. This has the white on the abdomen restricted towards the vent.
* *nilgiriensis* Whistler, 1940 is found in the Western Ghats and the Nilgiri Hills.
* *atratus* (Blyth, 1851) is restricted to Sri Lanka. This has a large bill.

Some of these isolated populations are found on islands and they include:

* *randi* Parkes, 1960 found in the central Philippines (Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor).
* *anderseni* Salomonsen, 1953 found on Leyte and Mindanao, in the Philippines.
* *fruticola* Horsfield, 1821 found in Java E to Flores and Alor.
* *francki* Rensch, 1931 is found on the Sumba Islands
* *pyrrhonotus* (Vieillot, 1818) found in the E Lesser Sundas (Wetar, Kisar, Timor, Savu, Roti).
* *albonotatus* (Stresemann, 1912) found in Sulawesi (except N peninsula) and Salayer I.
* *cognatus* Mayr, 1944 on Babar Island.
* *belensis* Rand, 1940 in WC New Guinea.
* *aethiops* (P. L. Sclater, 1880) in N New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago.
* *wahgiensis* Mayr & Gilliard, 1951 in EC & E New Guinea.

This species is closely related to the European-African stonechat complex.  *S. c. fruticola* from Indonesia (Moyo Island population appeared to be well differentiated from specimens from Lembata Island with a divergence estimated to about 360,000 years ago.), *S. c. pyrrhonota* from West Timor (Indonesia).

Local names include *Kala pidda* in Hindi *Shyama* in Gujarati *Kavda gapidda* in Marathi *Kallu kuruvi* in Tamil, *Kampa nalanchi* in Telugu. The Fore people of New Guinea called it *pobogile*. They were once popular in Bengal as cage birds. They are still found in the local bird trade of some parts of Southeast Asia.

## Distribution

The pied bush chat is a resident breeder in tropical southern Asia from the Greater Middle East through the Indian subcontinent eastwards to Indonesia. They colonized Papua New Guinea around 1950. It is found in open habitats including scrub, grassland and cultivation.

Some populations are partially migratory. A ringed individual of subspecies *rossorum* has been recovered from Israel. The populations in India also appear to show seasonal movements but the patterns are unclear. Subspecies *bicolor* is found in peninsular India in winter. In Karwar on the western coast, it is said to appear in October and stay till May but not seen during the rainy season. Said to be absent in the Baroda district of Gujarat from April to September. Claud Buchanan Ticehurst noted that it was a summer visitor to Baluchistan leaving in October and further that the birds from Baluchistan were indistinguishable from *rossorum* of Turkestan.

## Behaviour and ecology

The breeding season is mainly February to August with a peak in March to June. Males sing from prominent perches. The whistling call is somewhat like that of an Indian robinand has been transcribed as *we are tea for two* with *tea* at higher note. The nest is built in a hole in a wall or similar site lined with grass and hair, and 2-5 eggs are laid. Paired males did not reduce their dawn singing behaviour when their mates where trapped and temporarily excluded from the territory. This study suggests that males use dawn chorus to mediate social relationships with neighbouring males to proclaim an established territory. The eggs are small and broadly oval with pale bluish-white or pinkish ground colour and speckles and blotches towards the broad end. They measure about 0.67 by 0.55 inches.[4] Eggs are incubated chiefly by the female for 12 to 13 days.

Brood parasitism by the common cuckoo (race *bakeri*) has been noted to be common in the Shan State of Burma, with the cuckoo visiting the nest at dusk and removing an egg before quickly laying its own. The female has dark brown upperparts and rufous underparts and rump. She has no white wing patches. Juveniles are similar to females. Males display during the breeding season by splaying the tail, fluttering and puffing up the white scapular feathers.

This species is insectivorous, and like other chats hunts from a prominent low perch. They have been noted to feed on Pyralid moths and whitefly.

Nematode parasites in the genus *Acuaria* have been noted. Adult birds have few predators although bats (*Megaderma lyra*) and wintering *Asio flammeus* have been noted to prey on them.

## In culture

Among the Toda people in the Nilgiris, the pied bushchat or kāŗpiłc, is a bird of omen and the origin of its white wing patches is described in a story of a dairy priest *Piu.f* who in the ritual of churning milk forgot to remove the churning stick before fetching water from a stream. The bird attempted to obstruct him by blocking his path but he disregarded it and flicked off butter from his hands. The white spots remained but *Piu.f* met his death. The Kotas of the Nilgiris have an origin story to explain the sexual dimorphism of the pied bushchat but they consider the "karyvaky" bird to be one that foretells good omen.