Monticola solitarius
Monticola solitarius
The blue rock thrush has a wide distribution across the Old World, from Western Europe and the Maghreb to Japan (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe it is mainly found in the southern third of the continent, around the Mediterranean (Keller et al., 2020). In Spain it is present throughout the territory except for agricultural lowlands, Galicia, and it is absent from the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla (SEO/BirdLife, 2022).
In Madrid it appears throughout the entire mountain range and piedmont, except in the high mountains. There are isolated populations in some localities in the east of the autonomous community, associated with river cliffs. It occupies vegetation-free rocky walls, river gorges and abandoned quarries, as well as rocky outcrops among pine and oak forests in the western sierras (Díaz et al., 1994).
In the national park its distribution area is limited almost exclusively to La Pedriza and its surroundings. It appears occasionally on small cliffs and rocky areas in the Lozoya valley.
It is a species associated with rocky mountain habitats, but it has a broad ecological tolerance. For nesting, it selects steep areas such as cliffs, rocky outcrops, and even buildings in urban environments such as castles, ruins, churches, and other infrastructures.
In the national park, the highest abundances occur in rocky environments and in open areas that also contain rocky outcrops.
At a global scale, it is considered in the category of Least Concern (LC; 2016). In Europe, it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2021). In Spain, it is considered in the category of Least Concern in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not place the species in any threat category.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Díaz, M., Martí, R., Gómez-Manzaneque, Á. y Sánchez, A. 1994. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en Madrid. Agencia de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Antón, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M. V. Bauer, H. Gr y Foppen, R. P. B. 2020. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Birds Census Council y Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
SEO/BirdLife (Molina, B., Nebreda, A., Muñoz, A. R., Seoane, J., Real, R., Bustamante, J. y Del Moral, J. C. (eds.) 2022. III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.