Redtails

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Redtails
Common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus)

Common redstart ( Phoenicurus phoenicurus )

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Muscicapoidea
Family : Flycatcher (Muscicapidae)
Subfamily : Schmätzer (Saxicolinae)
Genre : Redtails
Scientific name
Phoenicurus
T. Forster , 1817

The redstart ( Phoenicurus ) are a genus of birds with about eleven species that belong to the Schmätzers . It is named after the rust to red-brown color of the tail, which occurs in all species of the genus. The best known in Central Europe are the garden and the black redstart . Redstart are insectivores and during the breeding season they mostly live in open rocky mountain landscapes or sparse mountain forests.

features

The redstart are graceful representatives of the Schmätzer with a comparatively short beak and mostly clearly developed beak bristles. The tail is relatively long and has - at least in the basal part - a rust to reddish brown color. The only exception is the male of the bluehead redstart , whose tail is uniformly black. The wing feathers are dark brown to black. The sexual dimorphism is quite pronounced, for example the males of most species have white markings on their wings - also called wing mirrors - which are likely to have a significant signaling function.

distribution and habitat

The redstart are the species of snapper that is most clearly adapted to the mountains, although other species - such as the wheatear - prefer higher altitudes. All redstart species colonize at least some of the higher mountain areas up to or above the tree line . The common redstart is the most tree-dwelling representative of the genus, but in many places it also inhabits the upper mountain forest level. The occurrences in southern Europe are even largely limited to higher altitudes.

The distribution center of the redstart lies in the geologically very old mountains and high plateaus of Central Asia . There is no doubt that the evolution of this species began there. From there the group has spread with some species into the younger fold mountains in the south and southwest, especially in the Himalayas and Pamirs . To the west, the genus populated the Hindu Kush , the Caucasus and Transcaucasus , the Alps , the Pyrenees and the Atlas . With the redstart genus also has the northern lowlands of West Palaearctic achieved with the Spiegelrotschwanz and Northeast China and southeastern Siberia . Only in the last 250 years has the black redstart, originally only found in the mountains, spread in the low mountain ranges and the lowlands of Europe to about 61 ° north latitude and opened up numerous secondary habitats, also and above all in the vicinity of humans.

Systematics

The redstart and the entire subfamily of the Schmätzer were traditionally assigned to the thrush family (Turdidae). Both the findings of DNA hybridization and more recent results of the sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene suggest that the smearers and thus also the redtails are more closely related to the flycatchers (Muscicapidae) than to the thrushes.

In addition to the species of this genus, the Rotschwänzen in the narrow sense, living in the Himalayas and further east, three other "redstarts" that are related undoubtedly close to the actual Rotschwänzen: the Weißkappenrotschwanz ( Chaimarrornis leucocephalus ), the Bachrotschwanz ( Rhyacornis fuliginosus ) and the White-bellied redstart ( Hodgsonius phoenicuroides ). Some authors even assigned some of these to this genus: morphology, behavior and biology speak in favor of continuing to assign these species to their own genera.

species

The genus is mostly divided into 11 species. The assignment of the Himalayan red tail to the genus was questioned by Jürgen Haffner in 1988 because of the different plumage coloring, but the behavior, vocalizations and breeding biology of this species are typical for this genus.

Picture gallery

literature

Web links

Commons : Redstart ( Phoenicurus )  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Armin Landmann: The black redstart . P. 11 ff., See literature
  2. ↑ Armin Landmann: The black redstart . P. 35, see literature
  3. ↑ Armin Landmann: The black redstart . P. 10 f., See literature
  4. ↑ Armin Landmann: The black redstart . P. 15, see literature
  5. ↑ Armin Landmann: The black redstart . P. 16 f., See literature