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Classification

• Order: Passeriformes
• Family: Muscicapidés
• Genus: Monticola
• Species: solitarius

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DESCRIPTOR

• Linnaeus, 1758

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biometrics

• Size: 23 cm
• Wingspan: 32 to 37 cm
• Weight: 37 to 54 g

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Distribution

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BIRD SONG

Find out more about the bird song

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IUCN CONSERVATION STATUS

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IDENTIFICATION

The male is entirely blue (with darker wings) and the female brown on the top and light brown speckled with dark below. Apart from poor observation conditions where the plumage of the male Blue Monticole may appear black, no confusion is possible. Essentially a sedentary species, but migrates altitudinally.

HABITAT

This monticole is a southern species: it nests in almost all the northern Mediterranean countries. Its habitat is mineral: it likes sunny rocky areas, ruins and the rocky coasts of the Mediterranean. Altitudinal range in France goes from sea level to 1,800 m in Corsica.

Threat – protection

Rare species in France (red list). Vulnerable in Europe. French range declined until the 1970s. This phenomenon is thought to be due in particular to the abandonment of farming (in areas of poor soil in the south of France), resulting in the closure of habitats. The over-frequentation of rocky areas (tourism, climbing, etc.) and various developments (coastal development in particular) are also thought to be to blame.