Black Redstart

The Black Redstart is a hardy chat originally associated with rocky mountain and cliff habitats, but which has successfully colonized urban and industrial environments across much of its European range, nesting on buildings, quarries, and derelict sites that mimic its natural rocky habitat.

Appearance

Males are predominantly dark sooty-grey to blackish, with a rusty-orange tail (constantly quivered, like other redstarts) and, in some populations, a white wing patch. Females and immatures are duller grey-brown overall, lacking the male's dark tones, but retain the diagnostic rust-red tail.

Key Field Marks

• Dark sooty-grey to blackish plumage in males, without an orange breast
• Rust-orange tail, constantly quivered — shared by both sexes
• Some males/populations show a white wing patch
• Females: plain grey-brown with the same rufous tail
• Frequently found on buildings, walls, rooftops, and rocky ground rather than trees

Similar Species

Common Redstart males have a grey back and a bright orange breast, quite different from the uniformly dark Black Redstart male, and favor wooded habitats rather than rocky or urban sites. Female Common Redstarts are warmer and paler-breasted than female Black Redstarts, which appear more uniformly grey-brown.

Habitat

Originally a bird of rocky mountain slopes, cliffs, and scree, the Black Redstart has adapted remarkably well to human-modified environments that offer similar structural features — quarries, industrial sites, railway yards, and urban buildings with ledges and crevices for nesting.

Range and Migration

The species breeds widely across southern, central, and western Europe and into Asia. Populations in milder regions, including many urban and southern European birds, are resident or short-distance migrants, while more northerly and continental populations move south to winter around the Mediterranean and in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

Behavior

Black Redstarts often perch prominently on rooftops, walls, or rocky outcrops, frequently quivering the bright tail, and sally out to catch insects in flight or drop to the ground to seize prey, much like the Common Redstart.

Voice

The song is a short, scratchy warble that often includes a distinctive brief burst resembling crumpling paper or crackling static, delivered from a rooftop or high perch — a useful identification clue in urban settings. The call is a sharp "tsip" or a hard "tucc."

Nesting and Breeding

Nests are built in crevices, holes in walls or rock faces, or ledges on buildings, a cup of grass and moss lined with hair and feathers, reflecting the species' original cliff- and crag-nesting habits transferred to artificial structures. The female lays 4-6 eggs and incubates them for about 12-17 days.