Pied Bushchat in Finland!!!

9.10.2010 impossible came possible here in Finland. Two birdwatchers found a male Pied Bushchat in the small Domarkobban island in the southwestern coast of Finland. This bird is a real mega as it has been seen only 8 times in WP before. Two of the previous records are from Cyprus and the rest from Israel. So with no other records from Western Europe we can truly say this was a very unexpected species to be found here. I twitched it and I also got some documentary photos. Thanks to Jürgen for a boat lift to island!

Many people has claimed this bird to be a first-year male. I'm not very convinced about that. To me this bird looks more like an adult male. I don't have any previous experience about this species but I still think a young male should look different than this one. This bird doesn't show any kind of moult limits in the wing and all the coverts and remiges are very black. I believe this kind of a black saxicola chat should show very clear moult limits after postjuvenile moult. Anyway, if this is an adult male then we may face some problems when considering the origin of the bird..


Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata) male of subspecies rossorum.
This subspecies is the only clearly migratory subspecies of
the whole S.caprata complex which includes not more than
16 subspecies.


Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata rossorum) male.


Pied Bushchat (Saxicola caprata rossorum) male.