First Record of Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) for British Columbia and North America. Published: April 28, 2024. By Rick Toochin.

The Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius) is a beautiful passerine that varies in both appearance and movements throughout its wide range with birds occurring from southern Europe and North Africa, east into the Middle East, into central Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Korea, and Japan (Cramp 1988, Brazil 2009, Mullarney and Zetterstrom 2011, Collar 2020, Clements et al. 2023) 

 

The Blue Rock Thrush is made up of many widely spread-out populations that might involve at least one separate species. There are 5 recognized subspecies. The following subspecies breakdown is taken from Collar (2020) and Clements et al. (2023)

 

The nominate subspecies of Blue Rock Thrush is (Monticola solitarius solitarius) which is found breeding in Northwestern Africa, Southern Europe (East to Italy and the Northern Balkans), Northern Turkey, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. Birds winter south to Central Africa, also in northwestern Africa and parts of Arabia.

 

The second subspecies of Blue Rock Thrush is (Monticola solitarius longirostris) which is found breeding from Greece, Western and Southern Turkey and Levant, east to Tien Shan, Afghanistan Norther Iraq, and Iran east into to Pakistan and the Northwestern Himalayas (Northern Pakistan and Kashmir). Birds’ winters south from Arabia, Northeastern Africa, east to Northwestern India. 

 

The third subspecies of Blue Rock Thrush is (Monticola solitarius pandoo) which breeds from northeastern Afghanistan and western China east through the Himalayas to central and southeastern China. Birds winter from India and the Central Himalayas, to South, Central and Eastern China (including Hainan), south to the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Vietnam, and south to Sumatra.

 

The fourth subspecies of Blue Rock Thrush is (Monticola solitarius philippensis) which breed from Eastern Mongolia, Northeastern China, Southeastern Siberia, Korea, Sakhalin Island, Southern Kuril Islands, Japan, Ryukyu Island, coastal Taiwan including Lan-yü Island, and the Northern Philippines (Batanes Is). This subspecies is migratory with birds wintering from Southeastern China (including Hainan and Taiwan), Southeast Asia and the Philippines, south to the Sundas, Moluccas, and Palau. This subspecies is very different from the rest of the overall population in appearance and ecology is referred to by some authorities as its own species as Red-bellied Rock Thrush.

 

The fifth subspecies of Blue Rock Thrush (Monticola solitarius madoci) is found in extreme Southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and Northern Sumatra.

 

Some populations of the Blue Rock-Thrush are sedentary, some are partially migratory, some are altitudinal migrants, and some populations are intercontinental migrants (Collar 2020). This species is a nocturnal migrant, often found solitary or in small loose groups (Collar 2020). 

 

The only records in North America involve the subspecies (Monticola solitarius philippensis) which is the focus of this report. 

 

The Blue Rock Thrush in northeast Asia is both a resident species and/or a full migrant in China and Japan (Meyer de Schauensee 1984, Brazil 2009). Some populations are sedentary in Japan south from central Honshu (Ornithological Society of Japan 2000, Brazil 2009). In South Korea populations are mostly non-migratory (or move short distances to coastlines and islands) (Gore and Won Pyongoh 1971 and Woo-Shin et al. 2000).  The populations in southeastern Russia (Flint et al. 1984), northeastern China and North Korea move south in the winter (Brazil 2009). At Beidaihe, in Northeastern China, may be commoner in spring than in autumn, main autumn passage their identification from late August to mid-October (Williams 2000). This species is an uncommon migrant in Hong Kong, generally from mid-September to the end of April, with peak arrival in the first week of October (Carey et al. 2001). Most of the wintering birds that are found in the urban areas of Hong Kong are immatures (Carey et al. 2001). This species is present in late September to late April in Myanmar (Smythies 1986); with the last 10 days of September to mid-May in the Philippines (Kennedy et al. 2000). Uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor in Borneo (including North Natunas) (MacKinnon and Phillipps 1993, Smythies 1999), with birds present from September–April; uncommon in winter in Northern Sumatra, with dates ranging late January to early April (MacKinnon and Phillipps 1993). Regular in Wallacea in early September to early May (Coates and Bishop 1997); recorded on Buru (Moluccas) from October–March (White and Bruce 1986). This species is an infrequent winter visitor to Palau (Collar 2020). It has been recorded as a vagrant in New Guinea and Australia (Collar 2020).

The identification of the many different subspecies of the Blue Rock Thrush is covered in by European, Middle Eastern, South-east Asian, and Northeast Asian Field Guides. The Bird that turned up in British Columbia was of the unique subspecies (Monticola solitarius philippensis) which sometimes treated as its own species called Red-bellied Rock Thrush (Brazil 2009). The Blue Rock Thrush measures between 20-23 cm in length and weighs 37-70 grams (Brazil 2009).  They are very unique looking and should not pose any identification problems if seen well in the field.

 

The following description information was taken from Brazil (2009) and Collar (2020).

Adult males have a deep blue hood, with the blue upperparts, blue rump, and blue thighs. Blackish-brown wings with outer blue fringes, and a blue gray tail. The breast is a solid, deep chestnut colour. The bill is strong, long black with eh eyes black and legs black.

 

Immature males resemble adult males but have narrow scaling over the blue and chestnut areas.

 

Females are drabber grey-brown with a blue-gray cast to the upperparts. Underparts are spotted/scaled pale grey-brown on face, throat and upper breast and barred on the lower chest, belly, and vent.

 

There are no birds commonly occurring in British Columbia that look like this species making identification straight-forward.

An adult male was found and photographed by Ian McDonald at Goldpan Provincial Park, near Spences Bridge, along the Thompson River, on June 6, 1997 (McDonald 1997, Bowling 1997c, Davidson 1999, Toochin and Cecile 2024). This record was published with full colour photographs in Birder’s Journal by McDonald (1997). It was accepted by the British Columbia Bird Records Committee (Davidson 1999).  However the record was not accepted by the ABA Committee (Robbins and ABA Checklist Committee 2003), so there are currently no accepted North American Records for this species by the American Ornithological Society’s Fifty-eighth supplement to the A.O.S Check-list of North American Birds (Chesser et al. 2017). It should be noted that this bird was dismissed by many as an escaped species (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.). The Blue Rock Thrush in question was of the subspecies (Monticola solitarius philippensis) which is migratory in East Asia, breeding from southeastern Siberia to China, Japan and Lan-yü Island and winters south to Indonesia (Brazil 2009, Clements et al. 2023, Howell et. al. 2014). It should be noted that both the location and the subspecies that was photographed are correct for a potential vagrant, especially since the Fraser Canyon is a under-birded vagrant trap (R. Toochin Pers Obs.). It might be worth a re-examination of this record by the AOS as it might be a true vagrant to North America. There is a recent photographed record of an adult male Blue Rock Thrush, from Hug Point at Cannon Beach in Oregon on April 21, 2024, and another adult male Blue Rock Thrush was found and photographed on the Southeast Farallon Islands off the north coast of California on April 25, 2024 (D. Cecile Pers. Comm.). These recent records strengthen the notion that the previous record in British Columbia was a wild bird and should be added to both the North American list and Provincial Bird List. 

I want to thank Don Cecile for editing the original manuscript. Also want to than Ian McDonald for allowing us to use a copy of his picture of the Gold Pan Provincial Park Blue Rock Thrush.

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