Moussiers Redstart

Appearance

It is the smallest redstart, only 12 cm long and 14–15 g weight. The male has a black head with a broad white stripe running above each eye and down the side of the neck. The upperparts are black other than a white wing patch, and the rich chestnut tail, from which it and other redstarts get their names. The underparts are a rich orange-red. The female has a pale brown head and upperparts, and the underparts are a paler orange than the male, although generally redder than the underparts of the similar but larger female common redstart.

Naming

It is named after Jean Moussier who was an amateur naturalist and a surgeon in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

Behavior

The male's song is a mixture of rasping sounds and "svee-svee" notes. The call is a plaintive single note, "wheet". It is primarily insectivorous, often feeding like a flycatcher, making aerial sallies after passing insects, but also picking and even digging insects out of the ground; more rarely, it will eat small berries. Its nest is built in a bush or on the ground and the clutch is typically 3-6 eggs.

Although largely resident, some show limited migratory behaviour, particularly altitudinal migration by those breeding at high altitudes moving to lower levels in winter. Vagrants have reached north to Great Britain, east to Greece, and south to Mauretania.