Phoenicurus ochruros
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It is a widespread breeder in rocky habitats across Eurasia and North Africa, from the British Isles south to Morocco and east to central China. It is resident in the milder parts of its range, but northern and eastern birds migrate.
The first formal description of the black redstart was by the German naturalist Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin in 1774 under the binomial name Mottacilla ochruros. The species is now placed in the genus Phoenicurus that was introduced in 1817 by the English naturalist Thomas Forster. Both parts of the scientific name are from Ancient Greek and refer to the colour of the tail. The genus name Phoenicurus is from phoinix, "red", and -ouros -"tailed", and the specific ochruros is from okhros, "pale yellow" and -ouros. Obsolete common names include Tithys redstart, blackstart (not to be confused with the species currently known as blackstart) and black redtail.
The black redstart is a member of a temperate Eurasian clade, which also includes the Daurian redstart, Hodgson's redstart, the white-winged redstart and perhaps Przevalski's... Wikipedia →
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Aquarama Barcelona | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Maison des Vautours | 🇫🇷 France |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Black Redstart sighting in Porto on a given day, based on 2,661 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 13th most-seen of the 175 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Black Redstart in Porto on a given day, against about 30% in July and August, the lowest months. That is one of Porto's wettest months, with about 120 mm of rain against 15 mm in July.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Redstart sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 96
Of the 96 cities where we can rate Black Redstart sightings, Porto ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in Lisbon (Portugal, about 70%).
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Black Redstart that you can see in Porto (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are European Robin (about 50%), European Stonechat (about 30%) and European Pied Flycatcher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Redstart is recorded against all the birds logged in Porto (2,661 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
