Amur Stonechat

Saxicola stejnegeri

OrderPasseriformes

FamilyMuscicapidae

HabitatOpen country, fields, and fence lines; breeds in East Asia

SeasonAccidental vagrant; one of the rarest birds ever recorded in Texas

LocationAnahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Texas, Chambers County, Texas

Size4.7-5.1 inches

DietInsects taken from low perches and the ground

ConservationLeast Concern (IUCN)

CameraNikon Z9Lens800mmAperturef/9Shutter1/2000ISO6400

An Amur Stonechat making Texas birding history on a fence line, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.

About the Amur Stonechat

The Amur Stonechat is a small, big-headed chat of East Asian grasslands, breeding from Siberia and Mongolia to Japan and wintering in Southeast Asia. A compact bird with a dark hood, white collar patch, and warm orange breast, it perches upright on low stalks and fence wires, dropping to the ground for insects.

What makes this page remarkable is where the photograph was taken: Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge on the upper Texas coast, in March 2025. An Amur Stonechat in Texas is a mind-bending vagrancy record, a bird that crossed the wrong ocean entirely, and it set off one of the biggest birding chases in recent state history.

These photographs were taken on March 25, 2025, when the stonechat was working a fence line in the refuge's east unit. First light, a rare bird, and a camera: that is as good as birding gets.

Want to see an Amur Stonechat in the wild?
Join one of my guided birding tours! Fine art prints of my photos are also available.

VIEW TOURS