Whinchat (Male breeding plumage)
Whinchat (Male non-breeding)
Recordings 
Scientific Name 
Saxicola rubetra
Arabic Name 
البرقش الأحمر
Kuwaiti name 
بريقش شياني
Length 
12.5 cm
Least Concern

Information

Uncommon passage migrant; rare winter visitor. These small chats are attracted to bushes, and in Kuwait they are usually seen in very small numbers.
Where in Kuwait 
They favour rough low vegetation habitats such as open rough pasture or similar minimally cultivated grassland with scattered small shrubs and can be found in farmland, inland pools, coastal zones - wherever these habitats are found in Kuwait. Males and females are often seen fairly close together.
In the world 
It has an extremely large range and in Europe, trends since 1980 show that populations have undergone a moderate decline. It is a migratory species breeding in Europe and western Asia from Ireland and northern Portugal east to the Ob River basin near Novosibirsk, and from northern Norway south to central Spain, central Italy, northern Greece, and the Caucasus Mountains. They winter primarily in tropical sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Kenya and south to Zambia. Its scientific name means "small rock-dweller", in reference to its habitat. Adult Whinchats have a single complex complete moult in late summer (late July onward) after breeding and mainly completed before southbound migration.
Local threats 
Habitat loss and degradation