Short Description
The bluethroat is about the size of a sparrow, slender and has long legs. The breast and neck are blue with a white or red throat patch. The back is brown. The face has a white eye line.
The blue is more vivid in the males. They have a dark edge towards the belly, a beige stripe and a rust-red chest band.
The colouration of the females is somewhat paler. They have a dark cloudy to dashed breast band. There may be a rusty red band towards the belly.
The throat, chest and belly sides of the young are beige with dark tips. The belly is whitish and the upper side blackish brown.
Features
Bluethroat
Luscinia svecica
blue throat
In the city
The bluethroat prefers wet sites with low vegetation. In the cultivated landscape, it is therefore often dependent on human intervention, such as dredging or backfilling in gravel pits.
Fun Facts
Bluethroats feed mainly on insects, worms, spiders and snails.
The nest is often built in dense vegetation close to the ground.
It can imitate sounds. It imitates the songs of conspecifics or sounds of the surroundings, such as the noise of construction sites or waterfalls, in order to impress females.
- Endangerment level Germany: not endangered
Sources
Männchen, Bogomolov.PL, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luscinia_svecica_volgae.jpg
Habitus , Marek Szczepanek, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Luscinia_svecica_tom_(Marek_Szczepanek).jpg
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Weibchen, J.M.Garg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bluethroat_(Luscinia_svecica)-_Female_at_Bharatpur_I_IMG_5484.jpg
-_Female_at_Bharatpur_I_IMG_5484.jpg){kind=link}
Kolbe, C. (2014) Vogel & Natur. Blaukehlchen - der Imitationskünstler, URL: https://www.vogelundnatur.de/blaukehlchen-vogelart/#!prettyPhoto (Accessed: 10.02.2021).
Trepte, Andreas (n.d.) Blaukehlchen. Bluethroat, Luscinia svecica, URL: https://www.photo-natur.net/singvoegel/fliegenschnaepper/blaukehlchen/ (Accessed: 10.02.2021).
Page „Blaukehlchen“. : Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Date of last revision: 02.01.2019, 14:52 UTC. URL: https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blaukehlchen&oldid=184307439 (Accessed: 04.02.2019).
Brodowski, G. (2007-2021) Das Blaukehlchen, URL: http://www.brodowski-fotografie.de/beobachtungen/blaukehlchen.html (Accessed: 10.02.2021).
Schrauth, F. (n.d.) Blaukehlchen (Luscinia svecica), URL: http://voegel-deutschland.de/Blaukehlchen.html (Accessed: 10.02.2021).
Witt, K. & Steiof, K. (2013) Rote Liste und Liste der Brutvögel von Berlin, 3. version, 15.11.2013. : Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V. (eds.) Berliner Ornithologischer Bericht, volume 23, Berlin: Berliner Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft e.V., 1-23.