Family:
The rufous-tailed scrub robin is a slim, upright bird with a long, rounded tail and relatively long legs. Its upperparts are a rich chestnut brown, with a rufous rump and tail that ends in a black and white tip. The wings are dark brown with pale edging, while the underparts are buffy white, paler in the centre.
On the head, the face is white, and the crown is chestnut. A dark brown line runs through the eye, a broad, cream-coloured, curved streak extends from the nostrils to behind the eye, and the ear coverts are pale brown. The eyes are brown, the bill is brown with a paler lower mandible, and the legs and feet are pinkish-brown. Males and females appear similar.
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The rufous-tailed scrub robin forages mainly on the ground, turning over leaf litter to find prey such as beetles, grasshoppers, and caterpillars, as well as earthworms.
Rufous-tailed scrub robins breed around the Mediterranean, through the Middle East to Pakistan, and spend the winter in North Africa and India. They inhabit dry, open landscapes with scattered scrub and dense patches of bushes and shrubs, but are also found in parks, orchards, and gardens.
