Güldenstädt's Redstart

Riesenrotschwanz, front male, female back

The Riesenrotschwanz (Phoenicurus erythrogastrus ) is a wading bird of the order Passeriformes and the family of flycatchers.

Features

The Riesenrotschwanz is significantly larger than the native species of the genus Phoenicurus with about 15-16 cm body length. The males are unmistakable in breeding plumage. Top of the head and neck are light gray to white. The rest of the head, back, upper chest and wing coverts are black. The rest of the fuselage, under tail-coverts and rump show how the generic typical tail a bright dark orange to rust-red coloration. The wings are white basally, distally also black, the white wings bases form a conspicuous white wing mirrors.

The females are similar in color to the females of the indigenous black redstart. They are plain gray-brown, the tail is dirty orange. Upper coverts, hand and arm swing are slate gray with lighter gray brown seams.

The wing coloration and the orange-red tail are already present in young males, otherwise these feathers under hand warm gray brown, upper side slightly greyish. Sometimes the breast plumage is already tinted slightly orange-red. The simplicity of the male dress the top is dark in color, the underside rust. The wing mirror is maintained in this dress.

Distribution, habitat and stock

The Riesenrotschwanz lives in the high mountains of Central Asia at altitudes of 2200 to about 5000 m. As a breeding bird he comes in the Caucasus, northern Iran, in southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, western China, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, northern Pakistan, northern India, Nepal and Bhutan. He is a state bird, but hiking in winter in the valleys down to about 1500 m. In the IUCN Redlist the species is classified as '' least concern ''.

Way of life

The nest is built on rocky ground, for example, in rock crevices, scree slopes, or under large boulders. Usually it occurs in a depression of the soil (or rock ) or surrounded by large stones. It consists of twigs, grass, stalks and other plant parts and is lined with hair, down and moss. It has a not very deep well and is cup-shaped. The breeding season of the Rotschwanzes runs from May and July. At the beginning of this period, the female lays four to five bright, red-brown speckled eggs and incubates them probably alone, while the male brought food creates.

The bird eats insects, spiders, larvae, worms and other invertebrates. In the autumn he also eats berries.