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The UK Bird Atlas

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks October · Chats, Old World Flycatchers, and Allies · BOU category A

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)
Alun Williams333, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Stonechat: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Stonechat has been recorded in 2,526 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (85%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in October.

Conservation status: Not Evaluated (IUCN Red List, NE)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
32% or more of visits
High
14% to 32%
Moderate
5% to 14%
Low
under 5%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 52%9%Low
February 50%9%Moderate
March 45%8%Very high
April 44%8%Very high
May 51%9%Very high
June 46%8%Very high
July 41%7%Very high
August 43%7%Very high
September 63%11%Very high
October 100%17%Very high
November 74%13%Very high
December 52%9%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in October

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
D04Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H13Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
HU41Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
J64Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
NA91Na h-Eileanan Siar, Scotland100%Very high
NB10Na h-Eileanan Siar, Scotland100%Very high
NB14Na h-Eileanan Siar, Scotland100%Very high
NC02Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NC11Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NC15Highland, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.