Redstart

Phoenicurus phoenicurus (Linnaeus, 1758) RT REDST 11220
Family: Passeriformes > Muscicapidae

Redstart, Edmund Fellowes

A bird of deciduous woodland, the Redstart gets its name from the colour of its tail, 'start' being an old colloquial name for tail.

The Redstart is a summer visitor to Britain & Ireland, arriving in April and departing through September and October for its wintering location in trans-Saharan Africa. The male is a striking bird, pinky-red below with a black face, silvery-white forehead, grey back and striking red tail, whilst the female has pale orangey-red underparts, pale brownish upperparts and slightly duller tail.

Redstarts can be found breeding across the UK, although their strongholds are in the west. However, this species is only a rare breeder in Ireland. UK numbers declined in the late-1960s due to drought in this species' Sahelian wintering grounds. Numbers subsequently recovered, and now fluctuate.

Exploring the trends for Redstart

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Redstart population is changing.

trends explorer

Identification

Redstart identification is often straightforward. The following article may help when identifying Redstart.

related video

Identifying Redstarts

In late summer and autumn Redstarts and Black Redstarts can turn up anywhere; The males are easy to identify but how do you separate females and young birds? This video will help you to spot the subtle differences that will allow you confidently identify a bird that is not sporting the males stunning summer colours.

SONGS AND CALLS

Listen to example recordings of the main vocalisations of Redstart, provided by xeno-canto contributors.

Song

Develop your bird ID skills with our training courses

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Status and Trends

Population size and trends and patterns of distribution based on BTO surveys and atlases with data collected by BTO volunteers.

CONSERVATION STATUS

This species can be found on the following statutory and conservation listings and schedules.

POPULATION SIZE

POPULATION CHANGE

A sharp decline in the late 1960s and early 1970s was thought to be due to severe drought conditions in the Sahel wintering area in Africa (Marchant et al. 1990). There was a 20% loss of occupied 10-km squares in Britain between 1968-72 and 1988-91 (Gibbons et al. 1993). A recovery in population size began in the mid 1970s and appears to have been sustained subsequently, although with some setbacks. Range, meanwhile, has contracted further, especially in the lowlands (Balmer et al. 2013). The European trend is described as being a 'moderate increase', although the change since 1980 is shown as only +8%, with the trend graph suggesting declines in the early 1980s have since been reversed (PECBMS: PECBMS 2020a>).

Exploring the trends for Redstart

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Redstart population is changing.

trends explorer

DISTRIBUTION

The Redstart is a rare and perhaps overlooked annual breeder in Ireland. Breeding Redstarts are absent from the Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Northern Isles and most Hebridean Islands, from which suitable wooded habitat is lacking. Otherwise, they have a wide and patchy distribution in western and northern Britain, with highest densities in the wooded uplands of Wales, northern England and, to lesser extent, southern Scotland. Small pockets of distribution remain in southern England, mostly associated with heathland.

Occupied 10-km squares in UK

European Distribution Map

European Breeding Bird Atlas 2

Breeding Season Habitats

Relative frequency by habitat

Relative occurrence in different habitat types during the breeding season.

>Bar of similar size indicate the species is equally likely to be recorded in those habitats

DISTRIBUTION CHANGE

The Redstart's British breeding range has contracted by 31% since the 1968–72 Breeding Atlas. Losses are most apparent in the English lowlands and in Scotland, through the Central Belt and on the northern and western fringes of the range. In the 1988–91 Breeding Atlas, it was noted that Redstarts were increasing in core areas and decreasing in the range margins; these trends have continued.

Change in occupied 10-km squares in the UK

SEASONALITY

Redstart is a summer visitor, arriving through April. Birds gradually depart in early autumn when we also receive passage migrants from the continent.

Weekly occurence of Redstart from BirdTrack
Weekly occurrence patterns (shaded cells) and reporting rates (vertical bars) based on BirdTrack data. Reporting rates give the likelihood of encountering the species each week.

Movement

Information about movement and migration based on online bird portals (e.g. BirdTrack), Ringing schemes and tracking studies.

An overview of year-round movements for the whole of Europe can be seen on the EuroBirdPortal viewer.

RINGING RECOVERIES

View a summary of recoveries in the Online Ringing Report.

Foreign locations of birds ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland

Foreign locations of Redstart ringed or recovered in Britain & Ireland
Encountered in: Winter (Nov-Feb); Spring (Mar-Apr); Summer (May-Jul); Autumn (Aug-Oct)

Biology

Lifecycle and body size information about Redstart, including statistics on nesting, eggs and lifespan based on BTO ringing and nest recording data.

PRODUCTIVITY & NESTING

Exploring the trends for Redstart

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Redstart population is changing.

trends explorer

SURVIVAL & LONGEVITY

View number ringed each year in the Online Ringing Report

Exploring the trends for Redstart

Our Trends Explorer will also give you the latest insight into how the UK's Redstart population is changing.

trends explorer

BIOMETRICS

Feather measurements and photos on featherbase

CODES & CLASSIFICATION

For information in another language (where available) click on a linked name

Gaelic: Earr-dearg
Welsh: Tingoch
Catalan: cotxa cua-roja
Czech: rehek zahradní
Danish: Rødstjert
Dutch: Gekraagde Roodstaart
Estonian: lepalind e. aed-lepalind
Finnish: leppälintu
French: Rougequeue à front blanc
German: Gartenrotschwanz
Hungarian: kerti rozsdafarkú
Icelandic: Garðaskotta
Irish: Earrdheargán
Italian: Codirosso
Latvian: erickinš
Lithuanian: paprastoji raudonuodege
Norwegian: Rødstjert
Polish: pleszka (zwyczajna)
Portuguese: rabirruivo-de-testa-branca
Slovak: žltochvost hôrny
Slovenian: pogorelcek
Spanish: Colirrojo real
Swedish: rödstjärt

Research

Interpretation and scientific publications about Redstart from BTO scientists.

CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS

Causes of change

The sharp decline in the late 1960s and early 1970s was thought to be due to severe drought conditions in the Sahel wintering area in Africa (Marchant et al. 1990). A recovery in population size began in the mid 1970s. This increase has been associated with steeply improving numbers of fledglings per breeding attempt and progressively earlier laying dates. The trend towards earlier laying can be partly explained by recent climate change (Crick & Sparks 1999), and is in line with an advance of 12 days in the arrival dates of Redstart in the UK, between the 1960s and 2000s ( Newson et al. 2016). Mallord et al. (2016) found no evidence that changes in woodland structure affected populations in six study areas in the west of the UK.

Further information on causes of change

No further information is available.

Information about conservation actions

The Redstart has been increasing since the 1970s and hence is not currently a cause of conservation concern, although there has been a decrease over the last five years. The driver of change may be improved productivity although this is uncertain.

A central European study and experiment found that areas of habitat with sparse (short) vegetation and bare ground were important within Redstart territories, by making prey more easily accessible (Martinez et al. 2010), hence providing more open habitat and providing areas of short vegetation (e.g. through mowing) may benefit this species. However, it should be noted that Mallord et al. (2016) found no evidence that changes to woodland structure had affected populations in the west of the UK. Note also that providing more open habitat for Redstart could potentially also negatively affect several other woodland specialists whose declines may be at least partly related to the loss of woodland understorey (e.g. Woodcock, Nightingale, Wood Warbler, Willow Tit, Marsh Tit).

Links to more information from ConservationEvidence.com

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