Monticola saxatilis
Monticola saxatilis
It is a species distributed across southern latitudes of the Palearctic, from the west to Mongolia (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe, it appears as a circum-Mediterranean species, reaching the Caucasus (Keller et al., 2020). In Spain, it breeds in the mountains of the central and northern regions, including the Cantabrian Range, the Pyrenees, and the Central and Iberian Systems, among others (Laiolo et al. in SEO/BirdLife, 2022). It also occurs in the Baetic ranges, the Levant, and Mallorca.
In Madrid, it is found in the mountainous and pre-mountainous areas of the northern half. It occupies cliffs and rocky escarpments in these areas, as well as rocky outcrops in high-mountain meadows with shrub vegetation (Díaz et al., 1994).
In the national park, it is not abundant but is distributed sparsely across many areas. It occupies all the high-altitude summit zones with rocky outcrops and boulders along the ridges, passes, and mountain cols.
The Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush is a rupicolous bird that breeds in mountainous areas with good herbaceous cover, low shrub vegetation, and rocky zones suitable for nest placement. In general, its breeding areas lie above 1,500 m in altitude in rocky environments, with the highest abundances occurring in limestone outcrops (García-Sánchez et al., 2014; Laiolo, 2018).
In the national park, its presence is linked to open and rocky habitats located above the treeline.
At the global scale, it is considered a species of Least Concern (LC; 2017). In Europe, it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2021). In Spain, it is listed as Vulnerable in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not include 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.
García-Sánchez, J. E., García-Rovés, P., Vigil, A., Alonso, L. M., Fernández-Pajuelo, M. A., Solva, G., Pascual, D. y Álvarez, D. (eds.). 2014. Atlas de las aves nidificantes de Asturies (1990-2010). Coordinadora Ornitolóxica d’Asturies / INDUROT. Llanera.
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.
Laiolo, P., Pato, J. y Obeso J. R. 2018. Ecological and evolutionary drivers of the elevational gradient of diversity. Ecology Letters, 21: 1.022-1.032.
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.