Black Redstart

Phoenicurus ochruros

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Presence in the Strait: Resident
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Colirrojo tizón

Photograph: SteveM4560, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 14 cm
Weight: 16 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce resident of rocky areas, with abundant distribution during the winter. Two sub-species can be seen: P. o. aterrimus, Iberian peninsular resident, and P. o. gibraltarensis, winter visitor from the rest of Europe.

Identification

Males with jet-black face and breast, the rest is grey in the gibraltarensis, or black in the aterrimus, rusty-red tail with dark central tail feathers and white wing patch. Females and juveniles have a more general brown-grey appearance. Black legs.

Movements

Peaks in 1st hf. March and 2nd hf. October.

Ring recoveries

Germany (21), Belgium (11), France (5), Switzerland (4), Spain (2) and Morocco (1).

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

22 %

Peak in November. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 25 February 1966
Latest record: 7 December 2025

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Phenology compared

Monthly distribution in proportion, by decade. It shows whether the passage is getting earlier or later.

1990–1999

2000–2009

2010–2026

Proportions, not totals: observation effort grew faster than any population.

Where they come from

44 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Germany21
Belgium11
France5
Switzerland4
Spain2
Morocco1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Common Redstart14–14 cm · Migrant · overlapping size
Moussier’s Redstart12–13 cm · Vagrant

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
GBIF taxon key: 5739315

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: SteveM4560, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Black Redstart

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Ring recoveries

Gallery