The Whinchat Saxicola rubetra is a small migratory passerine bird breeding in Europe and western Asia and wintering in Africa. Its scientific name means "small rock-dweller", in reference to its habitat. Saxicola derives from Latin saxum ("rock") + incola ("dwelling"); rubetra is a Latin term for a small bird. The Whinchat is a migratory species breeding in Europe and western Asia from Ireland and northern Portugal east to the Ob River basin near Novosibirsk, and from northern Norway south to central Spain, central Italy, northern Greece, and the Caucasus Mountains.[2] Birds arrive on the breeding grounds between the end of April and mid May, and depart between mid August and mid September (odd birds lingering to October). They winter primarily in tropical sub-Saharan Africa from Senegal east to Kenya and south to Zambia, arriving in western Africa at the start of the dry season in late September to November, and leaving between February and March. Fairly common across its wide range, the Whinchat is classified as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN. Some populations are however in serious decline, particularly in the west of its range in Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany, primarily due to agricultural intensification. This picture has a special importance for me... We saw this little bird last Saturday (April 30) during our ornithologic walk with André W. in the uncultivated meadows around Orsinfaing (Habay). According to the “Atlas des oiseaux nicheurs de Wallonie” there are only ~250 couples of this species in South Belgium...A whinchat picture is also making the cover of the atlas: In French: Tarier des prés A professional Belgian photographer devoted a complete series to this rare bird: www.naturapics.com/717-observer-et-photographier-le-tarier-des-pres-par-franck-renard.html Thank you very much for your comments (I reached the amount of 35.000 comments under the pictures in my gallery !) on my previous upload: "Hairy fly"