Birds / Thrushes and chats

Redstart

Phoenicurus phoenicurus

Also known as Common redstart

Tricky Summer visitor Woodland Uplands

Test yourself

Recording: Patrik Åberg / xeno-canto

Sounds like

A short, sweet phrase that starts strongly and then fizzles out into a scratchy jumble.

Remember it

Begins well, then loses the thread.

When and where

Listening for the redstart

Heard: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Apr to Jun
Time of day: Dawn and Day
Where: Woodland, Uplands
In Britain: Summer visitor
Family: Thrushes and chats

Side by side

Often confused with

Play them one after the other and listen for the difference.

Redstart

Phoenicurus phoenicurus

JFMAMJJASOND

Begins well, then loses the thread.

Robin

Erithacus rubecula

JFMAMJJASOND

Sweet but melancholy. A bird singing in the depths of winter is almost always a robin.

Pied Flycatcher

Ficedula hypoleuca

JFMAMJJASOND

A see-saw phrase, usually in the oak woods of the west and north.

Could you pick out a redstart?

Hear a song, choose from four birds, and build your streak.

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Same habitat

Also in woodland

See all

Blackbird

Turdus merula

JFMAMJJASOND

Slow, rich, fluting phrases that wander about and often trail off into a quiet chuckle.

Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus

JFMAMJJASOND

Two or three thin, high notes followed by a fast, shimmering trill: 'tsee-tsee-tsuhuhuhu'.

Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

JFMAMJJASOND

A cheerful, accelerating run of notes that tumbles down and ends in a flourish, repeated over and over.

Coal Tit

Periparus ater

JFMAMJJASOND

A fast, high, two-note phrase repeated several times: 'pitchoo-pitchoo-pitchoo'.