[Video] Bluethroat (Luscinia Svecica)

The bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) is a small passerine bird that was formerly known as a member of the Turdidae thrush family, but is now considered more generally to be a flycatcher of the Old World, Muscicapidae. It, and other related small European animals, are sometimes referred to as chats.

On an otherwise creamy throat and breast, females of both subspecies usually have just a blackish crescent. Freckled and spotted dark brown above are newly fledged juveniles.

Recent genetic tests, considering the characteristic morphology of the males, reveal only slight differences between the forms, and indicate that this is a single genus. Moults begin after breeding in July and are completed in 40-45 days, before the birds migrate.