Reunion Stonechat

The Reunion Stonechat is a small, round-bodied, high-legged bird. It is one of the smallest stonechats. Like almost all birds of the Saxicola genus, the male has blackish head, back and wings with some brownish reflections. Depending on the individual, it has a more or less pronounced white eyebrow sometimes going up to the base of the beak. For some males, the head is entirely black. The throat and neck are white. A white bar also starts from the shoulder and goes down to the under-tail feathers, also more or less prominent. A conspicuous red spot on the chest can extend to the abdomen. The rectrices are totally black, as are the legs and beak. All these colour variants are due to the polymorphism that the males have. Some of them are almost indistinguishable from the females.
The female has the same characteristics as the male but much more dull. Head, back and wings light brown to gray. The white eyebrow is also less marked. The throat and neck are white. The chest and belly are pale chamois white.
For both sexes, the iris is brown.
The juvenile resembles the female with pale brown streaks on the chest, back and head.