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The Whinchat (Saxicola rubetra) is a bird found in Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Denmark, Netherlands, and 2 more countries. Meadows across Europe and western Asia; winters in Africa. It eats insects and other small invertebrates, fruit and seeds and nuts. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

🏡 Where the Whinchat lives

Meadows across Europe and western Asia; winters in Africa.

🍽️ What it eats

• 🐛 Insects & bugs70%
• 🍎 Fruit20%
• 🌰 Seeds & nuts10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

Hear the Whinchat

Recorded by Lars Edenius (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1015458. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Whinchat

Where does the Whinchat live?

The Whinchat lives in Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Denmark, Netherlands, and 2 more countries. Meadows across Europe and western Asia; winters in Africa.

What does the Whinchat eat?

insects and other small invertebrates (about 70%), fruit (about 20%), seeds and nuts (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Whinchat endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from Europe

• Wood sandpiper
• Common shelduck
• Eurasian wigeon
• Western house martin
• Lesser black-backed gull
• European green woodpecker

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.