Phoenicurus phoenicurus Redstart Thrush Sparrow Birds Aves Passeriformes Muscicapidae

Description

Sex : M

Origin : Italy

Age : adult

Stuffed Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus Thrush Sparrow Birds Aves Passeriformes Muscicapidae, only a piece, with pedestal, as in photo. Prepared in 1972.
Family: Muscicapidae.
Common name: Redstart or Common Redstart.
Syn. Motacilla phoenicurus.

The Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus (Linnaeus, 1758)) is a small passerine bird previously classified in the Turdidae family, currently attributed to the Muscicapidae family.
It is 14 cm long with a wingspan of up to 24 cm. In spring, the male has a gray back with orange-reddish parts and a black head with a white forehead. The legs are black. In autumn and winter the colors fade and you can see a white collar under the gray throat. The female has a brown back with a fawn breast. The redstart feeds in the open countryside and in the undergrowth on invertebrates that live in the soil. During autumn until spring it also consumes berries and small fruits. Perched on a low branch it observes the surrounding environment and, when it spots prey, it flies down and grabs it and then perches again. It is a monogamous animal. The nest, in the shape of an amphora, is built in the hollow of the trees exclusively by the female. This she lays five or six blue eggs and the young are fed by both parents. It also nests in cavities in stone walls and on wooden beams in attics. It is a summer visitor to Europe, it is a migratory bird that winters in tropical countries from the Red Sea to African lakes. During the summer it lives throughout Europe as far as Siberia, but also in North Africa.