The Common Redstart is a small Old World flycatcher that breeds across Europe and western Asia and spends the winter in Africa. It shares only its name with the American Redstart, a wood-warbler of North American forests—the two are not closely related. It does not live in the United States.
Appearance
- Appearance
- About 5–5.7 in (13–14.5 cm) long. The breeding male has a slate-gray head and back, a white forehead, a black face and throat, and an orange-chestnut breast, rump, and tail. Females are gray-brown above and buff to pale orange below.
- Voice
- The male's song is a soft, wistful phrase lasting 1–2 seconds.
Look-alikes
American RedstartSetophaga ruticilla
The American Redstart is a wood-warbler: the male is jet black above with orange-red patches on the wings and tail, and white below. It has no gray back or white forehead.
Why they get mixed upSame name and a flashy orange-and-black tail, but the two are only distantly related.
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Open mature woodland
- Orchards
- Parks and old gardens
- Range
- Breeds across most of Europe, east into Asia as far as Lake Baikal, and in Morocco. Winters in Africa south of the Sahara and north of the Equator, from Senegal to Yemen.
- Seasonal presence
- Long-distance migrant; in Europe males arrive in early to mid-April and leave between mid-August and early October.
- Preferred conditions
- Prefers open birch, oak, or conifer woods with few shrubs and plenty of old trees with holes.
Behavior
- Diet
- Mostly flying insects, caught in short flycatcher-style sallies.
Life cycle
- Nest
- Nests in tree holes and readily uses nest boxes.
- Clutch size
- 5–6 pale blue eggs
- Incubation
- 13–14 days, by the female.
Name and classification
- About the name
- Two subspecies: the Eurasian Redstart (P. p. phoenicurus) of Europe and Siberia, and Ehrenberg's Redstart (P. p. samamisicus) from Greece and Turkey to Central Asia, whose males often show a pale wing patch.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- LCLeast ConcernLow risk of extinction
Culture and stories
- Culture and stories
- "Redstart" means "red tail": "start" is an old English word for tail. The scientific name Phoenicurus means the same thing in Greek.
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