The Runion stonechat (Saxicola tectes) is a species of stonechat in the family Muscicapidae, the Old World flycatchers. It is found across the French Indian Ocean island of Runion in forests, shrublands, and artificial environments such as gardens and plantations. The Runion stonechat is a member of the common stonechat superspecies, but it is distinct, together with its closest relative the Madagascar stonechat, from the rest of that group being insular derivatives of the African stonechat. The male is black above and white below, with a white supercilium (sometimes absent), half-collar, covert patch, and a variable-sized orange patch on the breast. Females differ from males in being browner above, more buff-toned below, and often lacking the white greater covert patch. This male Runion stonechat was photographed in La Roche crite, south of the Runion capital Saint-Denis.Photograph credit: Charles J. SharpRecently featured: Climate changeShirley Graham Du BoisEuropean spruce bark beetleArchiveMore featured pictures