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The Siberian Stonechat or Asian Stonechat (Saxicola maura) is a member of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. In the past it was usually classified as a race of the Common Stonechat, Saxicola torquata maura, but recent genetic evidence strongly supports its status as a full species, Saxicola maura distinct from the African Stonechat (Saxicola torquata sensu stricto) and the European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola).

The Siberian Stonechat is migratory and insectivorous. It breeds in open rough scrubland and rough grassland with scattered shrubs. The breeding range covers most of temperate Asia, from about 71°N latitude in Siberia, south to the HimalayaTibetan plateau and the Taklamakan plain to the north. The Himalaya (the Himalayan Range is a mountain range in Asia, separating India and the Northern Areas of Pakistan on the south and southwest from the vast Tibetan plateau (now part of China) on the n and southwest ChinaThis article is on the geographic and cultural entity. For other meanings, see China (disambiguation). China ( Traditional Chinese: , Simplified Chinese: , Hanyu Pinyin: Zhongguo, Wade-Giles: Chung-kuo) is a country in continental East Asia with some oute, and west to eastern TurkeyTurkey (officially the Republic of Turkey Turkish Turkiye is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part in southeastern Europe. Until 1922 the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the and the Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is a landlocked sea in Asia. It is bordered by Russia ( Dagestan, Kalmykia, Astrakhan Oblast), Republic of Azerbaijan, Iran ( Guilan, Mazandaran and Golestan provinces), Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, with the central Asian steppes to the n area. It also breeds in the far northeast of EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se, mainly in RussiaThe Russian Federation ( Russian: , transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija , or Russia (Russian: , transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija , is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of eastern Europe and northern Asia. With, but occasionally as far west as FinlandSuomen TasavaltaRepubliken Finland ( In Detail) ( In Detail) National motto: None Official languages Finnish and Swedish Capital Helsinki President Tarja Halonen Prime minister Matti Vanhanen Area Total % water Ranked 64th 337,030 km² 9. 4% Population Tot. The wintering range is from southern JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh south to Thailand and India, and west to northeast Africa. On migration, small numbers reach as far west as western Europe, and exceptionally as far east as Alaska in North America.

It resembles the closely related European Stonechat, but is typically paler, with a white rump and whiter underparts with less orange on the breast, and with distinctly longer primary feathers in the wing. In this last feature it more closely resembles the Whinchat, in both an adaptation to long-distance migration. The summer male has black upperparts, lacking the brownish tones of the European Stonechat, a conspicuous white collar, white scapular patch and white rump, a restricted orange throat and black head. The female has pale brown upperparts and head, and white neck patches (not a full collar) and a pale, unstreaked pinkish-yellow rump.

The male has a clicking call like stones knocking together. The song is high and twittering like a Dunnock.

There are five or six races, with S. m. maura (described above) and the very similar S. m. stejnegeri (doubtfully distinct from S. m. maura) across northern and central Asia, and the more distinct southern races S. m. variegata (weat of the Caspian Sea), S. m. armeniaca (eastern Turkey to Iran), S. m. indica (Himalaya) and S. m. przewalskii (southwest China) being distinguished by larger white areas on the plumage.