- Phoenicurus moussieri
Identification
13cm
Male
- Black head
- Broad white headband which goes down to the side of the neck
- Black upperparts
- White wing patch
- Short reddish tail
- Underparts rich orangy-red.
- Winter and first-summer males browner above where adult summer males are black
Female - light brown above, brownish orange underparts.
Similar species
The male is unmistakable, but females are very easily confused with female Common Redstarts, differing only in their marginally smaller size, shorter tail, and slightly more intense orange colour on the flanks.
Distribution
Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa in Morocco, northern Algeria, and Tunisia.
Rare vagrant to Europe. Malta (10 records), Italy (records on Linosa and other islands south of Sicily), Spain, Portugal (1 record) and Wales (1 record 1988) are the five European countries which have recorded this bird.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Open woodland in rocky areas, mainly in the mountains but locally down to near sea level.
Behaviour
Breeding
Its nest is built in a bush or on the ground and the clutch is typically 3-6 eggs.
Diet
Diet includes insects.
Vocalisation
Song is a mixture of rasping sounds and svee-svee notes
Call is a plaintive single note, heeh.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Wikipedia
- Collins Field Guide 5th Edition
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Moussier's Redstart. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Moussier%27s_Redstart
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1
