Common redstart

    Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Castilian: Colirrojo real

Catalan: Cotxa cua-roja

Gallego: Rabirrubio de testa branca

Euskera: Buztangorri argia

CLASIFICACIÓN:

Orden: Passeriformes

Family: Turdidae

Migratory status: Summer resident

CONSERVATION STATUS:

On the National List of Threatened Species, it appears in the “Vulnerable” category.

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THREATS

The abusive use of pesticides that alter forest environments, the elimination of old trees, and repopulation with non-native species are the principal threats.

Length / size: 14 cm / 22-24 cm

Identification: Small bird with a red tail. The male's back is greyish, his forehead is white, his throat is black and his breast is reddish; the female's and juvenile's underparts are ochre-coloured.

Song: It call is a soft, sibilant "hweet", often followed by a "teek-teek-teek". Its song is similar to that of the black redstart, and it consists of a short first part that immediately rises into another longer part that alternates soft trills with imitations.

Diet: It prefers larvae and adults of lepidopterans and beetles; during migration, at the end of summer and autumn, it consumes a large quantity of small fruits.

Reproduction: The breeding period begins in late April. The nest is prepared in the hollow of a tree, wall or slope, and it is a small bowl made of leaves and moss, and covered with feathers. The female is responsible for incubation but both parents feed the chicks.

HABITAT

It occupies mid-mountain areas where there is adecuate forest cover, such as oak grasslands and beech, coniferous or mixed forests. It is present from sea level up to an altitude of 1,800 metres, while its optimum altitude is between 800 and 1,200 metres.

DISTRIBUTION

In Spain: Its distribution is fragmented: it appears evenly in the Cantabrian Mountains, the Iberian System, the western Central System, and western Sierra Morena.

In Castile and León: It is present but unevenly distributed in all the provinces. The most significant concentrations are located in Burgos, León, Salamanca and Soria.

Movements and migrations: Although there are some individuals that winter in the south of the peninsula and on the Atlantic coasts, this species migrates long distances and goes to the southern Sahara to spend the winter. The prenuptial passage takes place between the end of March and mid-June, and the postnuptial between late August and early November.

POPULATION

In Spain: There is an estimated population of 10000-20000 breeding pairs.

In Castile and León: There is an estimated population of no more than 5000 breeding pairs.