Phoenicurus ochruros
Silhouette: Martin Bulla, based on François Desbordes' illustration · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Redstart sighting in Langtang National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 136th most-seen of the 225 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black Redstart in Langtang National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–August and November, the lowest months. That is one of Langtang National Park's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain against 10 mm in November.
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.
36th of 42
Of the 42 parks where we can rate Black Redstart sightings, Langtang National Park ranks 36th at about 10%. The best odds are in Vanoise National Park (France, about 80%), Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria, about 70%) and Picos de Europa National Park (Spain, about 70%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Phoenicurus
The closest relatives of the Black Redstart that you can see in Langtang National Park (genus Phoenicurus, True Redstarts) are Blue-fronted Redstart (about 50%) and Plumbeous Water Redstart (about 40%), 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 Langtang National Park (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
