Black redstart

The black redstart (Phoenicurus ochuros) is, as the name suggests, distinguished by the black and red colours in its plumage, although this applies mainly to male birds. Although a few pairs breed in the UK, it is more likely to be seen as a winter visitor or during its spring or autumn migrations to central Europe. A good place to see black redstarts in autumn in Britain is Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Although the few breeding birds in the UK are usually seen inland, wintering black redstarts are more often to be found in coastal locations, on cliffs, in quarries and ruined coastal buildings.

The black redstart is similar in size to the robin, at 14 to 15 centimetres (just over five and a half inches) in length. The longish, broad, square-ended tail is its most prominent feature, orange-red at the sides with a brown centre. Indeed, the word “start” is close to the Old English word for tail. Female birds also have red tails, although the colour is not as bright as in male black redstarts.

The plumage of male birds is grey-black, with the black being darkest on the throat. The top of the head and the back are greyer, with the chest speckled in grey and black. The winter plumage is more grey than black. The wings are black with white patches. Female black redstarts are mostly brown, darker above than below.

The black redstart was originally a cliff-dwelling bird, and, like another former cliff-dweller, the feral pigeon, it has taken to urban and industrial habitats where tall buildings take the place of cliffs. Nests are built in wall crevices, behind drainpipes or on windowsills. Black redstarts like to return to the same nest site every year, and will do so for the whole of their lives.

The nest is built from twigs, stalks, roots, leaves and mud, and lined with dry hairs. The clutch, laid between April and July, comprises four to six eggs, which are incubated by the female alone for up to 14 days. The male black redstart will not be far away, singing away on a high perch. The young will leave the nest after about 12 days, before they have fledged. A second brood is often raised. The non-wintering birds will leave in October for winter quarters in the Mediterranean area.

Black redstarts feed their young on insects caught on the wing. Adult birds will also eat crustaceans, worms, spiders, seeds and berries.

The small number of breeding pairs, often no more than fifty throughout the country, places the black redstart on the amber list of species of concern in terms of conservation.

© John Welford