The common redstart is a small bird belonging to the sparrow family. It is considered the most beautiful city bird, besides, it can make very beautiful sounds. The back of the bird is gray, and the sides and belly are red, the tail of the bird has a very bright red plumage, similar to fire, hence the name of the bird.
The size and appearance of the redstart bird
On average, the size of an ordinary redstart is approximately 10 centimeters. The mass of the bird is quite small and averages only 20 grams. The wingspan of a medium-sized redstart is approximately 25 centimeters. Female birds usually have a darker color than males. This type of bird has its own peculiarity, by which they can be easily distinguished from other representatives - the redstart twitches its tail a few times and then freezes.
habitats
- Representatives of this family are mainly distributed in North Africa and Europe. In Russia, they can be found throughout the European part, but there were also cases when they were met in Transbaikalia and Yakutia.
- The redstart loves to live mainly in coniferous forests, and it specifically selects the most comfortable forest for itself, and does not settle in all in a row. The redstart has its own peculiarity - it will never settle next to representatives of its own species. Since, if the birds settle nearby, then the males will constantly fight among themselves until one of them moves.
- Redstarts do not make their own nests, mostly birds settle in the hollow of a tree. They also like to live in city parks, where birdhouses made by people occupy.
Lifestyle and what they eat
Representatives of this bird species arrive at their habitats usually in the middle of spring. Experienced males are always the first to fly to the place, and after them females and young males arrive. Males fight among themselves for the best places. Having taken a place, the females begin to build a nest. After that, the males guard the occupied place and wait for the arrival of their female.
Having arrived, the females begin to equip the nest and lay about six eggs in them, after which they incubate them. After about a couple of weeks, chicks begin to appear. The next month after hatching, the parents of the chicks bring them food.
To feed themselves, redstarts eat various insects and small spiders that they can find on the ground or trees. But sometimes they also manage to catch an insect right in the air. Having caught their prey, redstarts carry them to a safe place, usually this is their nest. To prevent the insect from escaping from them, they stun them or tear off their limbs.
Besides insects, redstarts can also feed on various wild berries and fruits.
As soon as redstarts cannot feed themselves and their offspring, then they have to fly to African countries. Birds fly mainly at night.
reproduction
Courtship in birds occurs as follows: a male and a female sit together on a tree branch. The male begins to reach for his female, while he begins to strongly pull his wings up and make various sounds. If the female likes her boyfriend, then she flies away with him and they become a family. But if she did not like the male or the nest that he chose for her, then she immediately leaves him.
Redstart chicks usually hatch in late spring. The babies are born blind and deaf. The male is personally involved in the food of the family, as the female guards her chicks.
Males often have several families at once and he is forced to feed them all. Although he does this with each of his families in different ways, he flies to someone more often, and to someone he completely forgets to fly in.
The chicks begin to try to get out of the nest after a couple of weeks, and after about a month, they already make their first flight. When the chicks begin to fly, they themselves begin to look for their own food.
As soon as a married couple of birds releases all their chicks into the wild, they immediately begin to make new ones, and so on throughout their lives. By the way, the average life expectancy of redstarts is ten years.
Relationships with people
These birds like to lay their eggs in ready-made nests. So, if a place for their habitat is located on the garden plot, then they will gladly settle there. For people, such neighbors will be of great benefit, as they will help them get rid of various harmful insects. Such representatives of the species are usually called - garden redstart.
Interesting Facts
- Common redstarts have a very beautiful voice, which they sing throughout the day.
- This species of birds operates only in the daytime, although they prefer to make long-distance flights in the dark.
- If a bird lives in captivity, then it often injures itself, so wings are tied to them for the first time. In captivity, the lifespan of a bird is longer than in the wild.
- According to the results of 2015, she was declared the bird of the year in Russia.
- There are times when a redstart attacks its own reflection.
- The cuckoos love to lay their eggs in the nests of the redstarts, and they, in turn, take care of their chicks as if they were their own.
- Representatives of redstarts are called loners, as they prefer to live independently and away from their own relatives.
- Redstarts do not like to be under the sun for a long time, and also do not like rain.
A large number of large and small birds live in the vicinity of Moscow. Although the proximity of a huge metropolis makes its own adjustments to their habitat, the forests near Moscow, fields and swamps are rightfully considered their home. Consider examples of their most famous types:
White stork
Our list of "Birds of the Moscow Region" opens with a beautiful and majestic white stork
A large bird with white plumage and a long powerful beak. Black shiny edging along the edge of the wings creates the illusion of a black back for a sitting stork. In the cold season, it migrates to Africa and India. The bird prefers to nest near human dwellings on rooftops or poles.
Golden eagle
Other birds of prey of the Moscow region, photos and descriptions of which are presented here, cannot be compared with the Berkut. This representative of the hawk order is very large in size. Its wingspan is up to 2.5 meters. The objects of his hunting are rodents, hares, lambs or even small deer.
bittern
A rare endangered species of birds listed in the Red Book of the Moscow Region. It has a black and yellow variegated color. Bittern lives in swampy areas and feeds on small fish. The bird is of medium size and weighs about 1 kilogram. A distinctive feature is a low trumpet voice, similar to a bull's roar.
Crow
Do not confuse this majestic large bird with an ordinary crow. Black plumage with a metallic sheen, powerful beak and large body size distinguish the raven from this ubiquitous companion of man. Crows live up to 75 years.
Capercaillie
Capercaillie - another bright representative of the list "Birds of the Moscow Region"
A bird of the chicken order, the size of a turkey. Females and males are very different, both in color and size. They fly very hard and noisily, not rising unnecessarily high above the forest. The bird owes its name to the peculiarity of the structure of the larynx. During mating games, it makes bubbling sounds, at the moment of which it loses its hearing.
Rook
A close relative of the crow, but more slender. The black metallic color and the absence of plumage in front of the beak distinguishes the rook from it. It feeds on almost everything that it can handle. Small rodents and human waste, worms and grain - all to his taste.
Thrush
The thrush itself is rather faded, but it has bright accents in the form of an orange breast and beak.
When viewing the catalog, which lists the birds of the Moscow region, their photos and descriptions do not attract much attention. The inconspicuous brown-brown variegated color of the back, white belly and rusty-red sides do not prevent him from making beautiful sounds that can rightly be called singing.
little owl
A nocturnal bird similar in appearance to an owl, but smaller. The head of the owl is large with huge eyes surrounded by facial rims. Above them there are black protrusions, similar to eyebrows. There are no ear-like feathers. Owls often settle in buildings next to people.
yellow wagtail
The yellow wagtail weighs only 17 grams
A small bird weighing up to 17 grams. It has a yellow-green color. Her long tail is always in motion. Wagtail can often be found near water bodies on tall grass stalks. Belongs to the order Passeriformes.
green woodpecker
A bird with a very beautiful olive green color. The size is comparable to a jackdaw. Lives in deciduous forests. He is very shy, so meeting him is a great success. Like all woodpeckers, it feeds on small bugs, which it finds in rotten trees and stumps.
Kingfisher
This small bird has a very uncommon appearance. Large head with a huge spear-shaped beak on a short body. Weak thin legs and short wings complete this whole picture. With all this, the kingfisher has a very bright plumage: its back and wings are blue, and the bottom of the body is yellow. The bird settles on the banks of reservoirs, as it hunts near water.
Finch
When considering small birds of the Moscow region, the photo and description will be remembered for the fact that this songbird has a very bright color of feathers. His chest is red-brown, and the back is brown-green. Thanks to this, it is clearly visible in nature.
Oriole
It has an elegant color of feathers of yellow and black. The size of a starling. He sings very beautifully, like a flute. However, occasionally it can make a terrible sound, like a cat whose tail has been stepped on. The bird is fast and mobile. Lives in forest thickets, flying in waves from branch to branch.
Mallard
This common waterfowl is the ancestor of the domestic duck. It has a body up to 60 centimeters long and weighs up to 1.5 kilograms. In plumage, sexual dimorphism is observed, which consists in the presence of green iridescent plumage of the head and a white collar in drakes. The mallard is a game bird, a favorite object of hunting for hunters.
Kobchik
Belongs to the order Falconiformes. Kobchik is a mini-falcon. The color is black, the males have brick-red “pants”, and the females have a red head and lower body. Like all representatives of falconiformes, it is an excellent hunter. It is a predator that hunts for small rodents, swiftly grabbing them with tenacious claws from above.
Landrail
The body size of the corncrake is from 20 to 22 centimeters. The body is elongated. The color of the feathers is gray or ocher-red. The beak is short. Likes to nest near swamps or wet meadows. Winters in central Africa. This bird does not like to fly. In case of danger, he prefers to run away or fly close.
Merlin
A large representative of falconiformes with blunt wings. It has a light color, which can be either pure white or gray. It prefers the northern regions, but in some winters it was also found in the Moscow region. The object of his hunting are small birds.
mute swan
A pure white beautiful bird with an orange beak provided with a black outgrowth. The black legs are webbed for swimming. The swan flies and swims beautifully, but walks poorly on the ground. The weight of a swan can reach 18 kilograms, and the wingspan is 220 centimeters.
Coot
A duck-like hunting bird of black color with a white beak and a bald forehead, to which it owes its name. A relative of the corncrake. There are no membranes on the legs, but it moves well in the swamp and water. The beak is more like a chicken. For this, it is sometimes called the "swamp chicken".
burial ground
The Imperial Eagle is a very large bird of prey. In Central Asia, he builds nests on ancient burial mounds. That's why it got such a creepy name. It can hover high in the air for hours, tracking down prey. It runs beautifully on the ground in the morning, waiting for warm air currents for flight.
Moskovka
Bird of the tit family. Slightly smaller than an ordinary tit and differs from it in plumage color. Black head and wings in composition with a white belly. He prefers to live in coniferous forests, but often flies to parks to feast on feeders.
common cuckoo
A gray bird the size of a magpie. Has a long tail. In the first half of summer, it makes the characteristic sounds of "cuckoo". A feature of this species is that females do not hatch chicks, but “throw” eggs to other birds.
common bullfinch
A very bright representative of the feathered family. Bright red breasts of bullfinches are very clearly visible in winter on white snow. They feed on fruits and berries left on the trees. The size of a bullfinch is no larger than a starling.
The black-headed gull is much smaller than the sea gull
It is ubiquitous throughout our country. It has white plumage with a black head. Eats fish. It nests near freshwater bodies of water. The size of this gull is much smaller than its marine relative.
white-tailed eagle
A large representative of hawks, which reaches a mass of 7 kilograms. Males are much smaller than females. The bird has a brown color, except for the white plumage of the tail. This species is distinguished by constancy in choosing a pair.
Grouse
The forest bird is a relative of the domestic chicken. It has brown plumage with a gray belly. The males have bright red eyebrows and the head is topped with a crest.
waxwing
Very beautiful winter birds. They have bright plumage with red, yellow and brick-colored elements. The head is decorated with a chic crest. You can often see them on the mountain ash, when they eat the berries left for the winter.
Hoodie
Needs no special introduction. The bird settles next to the person. It feeds on its waste products.
Jay
The jay is the hardest-working bird that worries about winter supplies in advance
When studying the birds of the Moscow region, photos and descriptions should also be taken into account, since this is the most industrious bird that prepares its supplies for the winter.
Nightingale
King of the song. Despite its small size, it has an exceptionally beautiful voice. No wonder there is a comparison "sings like a nightingale."
Orestart extraordinary (earlier - Garystart extraordinary)
The whole territory of Belarus
Thrush family - Turdidae.
In Belarus - Ph. ph. phoenicurus.
Common breeding, migratory and transient species, not numerous in places.
A bird the size of a sparrow. The plumage of the top of the head, back and wings of the male is brownish-gray, the forehead is white, the cheeks and throat are black, the chest is brick-red, the abdomen is buffy-white, the tail is bright red, only the middle pair of tail feathers is blackish-brown. The beak is black, the legs are brown. The female is not so contrastingly colored, in grayish-brown tones. Her tail is the same as that of the male, bright red. Juveniles are similar to the female, but with brown spots. Male weight 12.5 - 19.5 g, females 13-17.5 g. Body length (both sexes) 14-15 cm, wingspan 21-23 cm. Male wing length 7.5-8 cm, tail 5, 5-6 cm, tarsus 2-2.5 cm, beak 1 cm. Wing length of females 8 cm, tail 5.5 cm, tarsus 2.4 cm, beak 1 cm.
Pretty conspicuous bird primarily due to the bright coloration of the tail, clearly visible in flight. Voice - repeated several times "fuit-tic, tick." The song is short and quiet, with flute tones - it resembles a short, somewhat nasal trill, begins with a stretched sound and ends with a call that is sharply distinguishable from the middle of the song: “fymi, ryuryuryu-ryu, ryu-circus”.
Prefers dry biotopes - mostly light forests with well-developed undergrowth, as well as burnt areas, groves among fields. It is especially common in dry pine forests of different ages, adhering mainly to edges and clearings. It lives in tree plantations of cities and villages - in gardens and parks, in summer cottages.
The Common Redstart arrives and flies in mid-second half of April. Old males are the first to arrive at the nesting sites, looking for hollows and other places suitable for nesting. When they find them, they sing intensely and guard. With the arrival of females and the formation of a pair, both birds guard the nesting site. At the height of the mating season (May, 1st half of June), the song can be heard not only during the day, but also in the predawn twilight and late in the evening. Males sit on the tops of trees, on plantings dominating in height near residential buildings. At this time they are gullible, available for observation. From the 2nd half of June, singing fades away, completely stops in the 1st decade of July.
Breeds in separate pairs, which are sometimes located quite far from one another. Nests are built in various voids, mainly in hollows. At the same time, a clear preference is given to those that have a wide inlet. It also uses voids and recesses in trunks, rotten stumps, all kinds of niches and crevices in buildings, in attics, under eaves. Often builds nests in piles of firewood, in heaps of brushwood. In dry forests, it often nests on the ground: between stones, under the roots of old trees, eversion, etc.
In southwestern Belarus, nests of redstarts were found in hollows of aspens, birches, pines at a height of 0.5–4 m, in shallow potholes and niches of trunks, cracks in trees, stumps, in heaps of brushwood, under the roofs of buildings, in crevices of walls, in hollows .
Willingly populates artificial nests. Depending on the location, the nest can be located at different heights above ground level - up to 10 m or more (sometimes below the level - in rotten voids in stumps, etc.).
Under natural conditions, the nest is built from dry stems, pieces of bark of different trees, leaves, moss. In human settlements, various rags, pieces of paper and other materials are added to these materials.
The outer part of the nest consists of loosely folded dry stems, grasses, leaves, bast, the inner part is made of green moss. The nest is lined with feathers, wool, often with the addition of pine bark scales, pieces of bast, and birch bark films. The size of the nest depends on the size of the niche in which it is placed. In spacious hollows, as well as in nests arranged on the ground, there is, as a rule, much more building material. In some cases, it does not build a nest at all, but lays eggs directly on wood dust (like other birds - woodpeckers, etc.). Nest height 8-11 cm, diameter 10-17 cm, tray depth 5-6 cm, diameter 5-7 cm.
Average nest sizes in southwestern Belarus: nest diameter 10.3–13.2 cm (average 11.1); tray diameter 7.0–8.2 cm (average 7.6); nest height 5.0–7.0 cm (average 6.1); tray depth 4.0–5.0 cm (average 4.5).
The nest is built by the female within 6-7 days.
In a full clutch 5-9, more often 6-7 turquoise or sky-blue, sometimes quite dark, without marks, matte or slightly shiny eggs. Egg weight 2 g, length 17-19 mm, diameter 13-14 mm.
In a full clutch in southwestern Belarus, there are 5–8 blue eggs (average 6.2). The average size of the eggs found here is 18.4 × 13.9 mm, the weight of the eggs is 2.0 g.
The first clutches appear in the third decade of May - early June. One brood per year. In case of masonry death, re-nesting is possible. Two breeding cycles are recorded only in more favorable years in the south of the republic. The clutch is incubated for 13-14 days mainly by the female, then both parents feed the chicks. Nestlings are fed with butterflies, sawflies and their larvae, spiders, and occasionally terrestrial mollusks.
The number of food brought to the chicks (5–6) starts from 50 and reaches 390. The maximum number of food brought is noted on the 10–11th day of the life of the chicks. 2 feeding peaks were noted: morning (06:00-08:00) and evening (18:00-19:00). The course of feeding is influenced by the state of the weather: in windy and rainy weather, the frequency of feeding is reduced. In the first 2 days of life, the chicks are fed mainly by the male, and the female warms them. In the following days, both parents bring food with approximately the same intensity.
On the 13-15th day of life, the chicks leave the nest. The young begin to fly 7-8 days after they leave the nest. Within 7–10 days after leaving the nest, the parents feed them in the immediate vicinity of the nest or at a short distance from it.
It feeds on various insects and their larvae, as well as spiders, collects food both on the ground and on tree branches; larger insects are often caught on the fly. They use blueberries, elderberries, etc.
The area of the hunting area is 7-10 thousand m².
Density (ind./km²) in a number of ecosystems of southwestern Belarus is: in parks - 16.5, in high-rise blocks - 7.2, in individual buildings in the city of Brest - 19.3; Ivatsevichi - 8.5; medium-sized villages of the Brest region - 38.6, villages of the central Polissya - 14.6; holiday villages - 5.3; in broad-leaved-pine forests of Belovezhskaya Pushcha - 6.5; in mossy pine forests of Tomashovsky forestry 6.7 and Belovezhskaya Pushcha - 12.6.
In the 1980s in summer, in the settlements of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, 2.5 ind./km² were taken into account. Population density of the common redstart in 1982–2010 in the village of Tomashovka (Brest district) varied from 14 to 38 ind./km², and in individual buildings in the city of Brest it was somewhat lower and varied from 10 to 32 ind./km².
Redstart (lat. Phoenicurus)- a small bird from the passerine family. The males have a gray back, a rusty-red belly and sides, and a bright red plumage on the tail - that's why the redstart got its name. The wings are brown, the forehead area is white, the cheeks, throat, goiter are black. The females are brown with reddish markings. The body length of the bird is up to 16 cm, weight is up to 20 grams. In young birds, the color is inconspicuous, brown with buffy spots.
photo: Common redstart or coot
Redstarts include 13 species of birds, most of them inhabit China, India and other Asian countries. In Russia, you can most often find the common redstart, nigella, white cap and Siberian redstart. Birds prefer to settle in the forest-steppe and forest zones, in parks and gardens, but in the steppe it can be seen extremely rarely, it avoids redstart and pine forests.
photo: Black Redstart
Distribution, nutrition, reproduction of redstarts
The redstart returns in mid-April, the first to arrive are old males, followed by young and females. It is the males who are looking for a place to nest, for the best sites the real struggle begins. Bird nests are built in hollows, on thick branches of trees, in bushes, old stumps. The female builds a nest in May-June, using pieces of bark, grass stalks, dry leaves as a building material, lining the rookery from the inside with threads, feathers, ropes, scraps of paper. In one clutch there are 6-7 eggs with a bluish shell, the female is engaged in incubation. After 2 weeks, chicks appear, both parents bring them food for another 2-3 weeks. Babies begin to fly about a month after birth. Some pairs of birds make 2-3 clutches during the summer. The young roam not far from the nesting place, near water bodies and in thickets of bushes.
photo: Siberian redstart
Food for redstarts are mainly insects - flies, mosquitoes, small beetles, caterpillars, as well as small spiders. Birds are not averse to eating berries - currants, elderberries, raspberries. In October (some species even in November), birds migrate to Central Africa, where they spend the winter. You can keep redstarts in cages, but they get used to a person for a long time, and they will sing in captivity at most 2 months a year.
photo: White-headed redstart
- Representatives of this species sing almost around the clock, they are especially active early in the morning and late in the evening;
- A characteristic feature of the bird's behavior is the constant shaking of its tail, because of this, the red plumage shimmers in the sun, like a fire;
- The redstart is also called the coot, kaluferka, goristovka;
- When kept in captivity, the wings are tied up for the first time, as they often injure themselves. With proper care, they live 5-6 years.
- In 2015, the redstart was declared the bird of the year in Russia
Redstart video
Appearance . Smaller in size. The male has an ash-gray top of the head, necks and entire back, a white forehead, black sides of the head and throat, brown wings, a bright red underbody and tail. The female has a reddish tail, the abdomen is buffy-whitish, the rest of the plumage is brownish-gray. Young birds are brown with light spots and a red tail.
Lifestyle . Inhabits redstart light forests, parks and gardens.
Common migratory bird. Keeps on the lower parts of trees, on bushes, on the ground.
While singing, the male redstart sometimes flies to the top of the tree. The song is a ringing trill. The cry is a voiced “fit-ti-tik”.
The nest is built in a hollow, a crack in a house, an artificial nesting place. Clutch of 6-7 blue eggs in May - July.
Similar types. The male differs from the black redstart male by its white forehead, from the Siberian redstart male by its dark wing. The female is very similar to the female nigella, but somewhat lighter, in nature they are almost indistinguishable, but live in different latitudes.
Squad of sparrows. Thrush family. Redstart genus. Common redstart.
