Common Redstart Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Small, slim, robin-sized bird around 14 cm long, related to chats and Old World flycatchers.
• Breeding male: blue-grey crown and back, black face and throat, white patch on the forehead, orange-red breast fading to white on the belly, and a bright orange-red tail with a dark central pair of feathers.
• Female and non-breeding birds: plain grey-brown above, buffy-orange wash on the underparts, but retain the same orange-red rump and tail.
• The single best clue at any age or season is behavior: the bird constantly shivers and quivers its orange tail, both when perched and just after landing.

Separating It From Similar Species

• Black Redstart: male is essentially all sooty-black or dark grey (no orange breast) with the same orange tail; females and juveniles are colder grey-brown without the warm buff-orange breast wash of Common Redstart, and they favor rocky, urban, or industrial sites rather than woodland.
• Nightingale: larger, more uniformly rufous-brown overall including the tail, lacks the tail-quivering habit and the grey/black head pattern.
• Whinchat/Stonechat: told apart by the lack of an orange tail and by different head and wing patterns; redstarts are the only common chat-like bird with a truly bright rufous-orange tail contrasting with a duller body.

Where and When to See One

• Breeds in open deciduous and mixed woodland, parkland, orchards, and wooded heathland across most of Europe and western Asia.
• A long-distance migrant, arriving on breeding grounds in April–May and departing by September for wintering areas in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Favors mature trees with nest holes or crevices, and is often detected first by song from a high, exposed perch.

Voice

• Song is a short, sweet warble that trails off into a scratchy rattle or jumble of notes, sometimes incorporating mimicry.
• Call is a soft, plaintive "hweet" followed by a clicking "tucc-tucc," often given when the bird is agitated or feeding young.