Redstart
| Redstart | ||||||||||||
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Males on the left, females on the right |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phoenicurus erythronotus | ||||||||||||
| ( Eversmann , 1841) |
The Eversmann's Redstart or Zügelrotschwanz ( Phoenicurus erythronotus ) is a bird art from the genus of redstarts . This genus is depending on the author to the family of flycatchers (Muscicapidae) or the closely related family of reactors arranged (Turdidae). The species was first described by the German biologist Eduard Friedrich von Eversmann and therefore bears his name in some languages.
description
Appearance
With a body size of 15 to 16 cm and a wingspan of 25.5 to 27 cm, the sprout redstart is one of the larger redtail species. Like all redtail species, it shows a strongly pronounced sexual dimorphism : During the breeding season, the male's plumage consists of a black mask, a gray top of the head and a gray neck area. The back and rump are reddish-brown, as is the tail, except for the darker central feathers. The wings are dark with white spots on the shoulder feathers and the wingtips . The underside is largely red-brown, apart from the white belly and the white under tail-coverts. Males outside the breeding season and in the first winter are similarly colored, but much paler and more brown.
The female is mainly gray-brown. It has a red-brown tail with a dark center, a pale eye ring, two sand-colored wing strokes and sand-colored umbrella feathers . The bill and legs are black in both sexes.
singing
The singing is loud and lively. In addition, the repertoire includes a soft, croaking call and a whistling call.
distribution
The breeding areas are in the mountains of Central Asia and southern Siberia from the Tianshan Mountains to the Tarbagatai and Altai Mountains and near Lake Baikal . Some birds migrate downhill in winter; others, especially in the northeast of the range, cover longer distances. The wintering area extends from southern Iraq through Iran and Pakistan to the western Himalayas . Individual birds migrate to eastern Arabia . In addition, wanderers were observed in Israel and Turkey .
habitat
In the breeding season, the redstart lives in forests and wooded landscapes up to 5400 m altitude, in winter it prefers more open and drier habitats.
Way of life
nutrition
Insects are the main source of food during the breeding season; in winter, on the other hand, the bird feeds on fruits and plant seeds.
literature
- PAD Hollom, RF Porter, S. Christensen & Ian Willis: Birds of the Middle East and North Africa . T & AD Poyser, Calton, England, 1988.
- John MacKinnon & Karen Phillipps: A Field Guide to the Birds of China . Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000.
- DW Snow & CM Perrins: Birds of the Western Palearctic: Concise Edition . Vol. 2, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998.
Web links
- Phoenicurus erythronotus inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Listed by: BirdLife International, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2013.