Passeriformes / Muscicapidae / Phoenicurus
Daurian Redstart
Phoenicurus auroreus · 北红尾鸲
Introduction
Small passerine in the Old World flycatcher family (Muscicapidae), native to temperate Asia. Inhabits open forests, forest edges, agricultural margins, parks, and urban gardens. Strongly sexually dimorphic with distinct plumage differences between sexes. Classified as not threatened by the IUCN.
Description
Length 14–15 cm; weight 11–20 g. Breeding males have a grey crown and nape, lighter forehead and crown-sides, black face and chin, brownish mantle and wings with a large white wing patch. Chest, lower back, and rump are orange; tail is black with orange sides. Females are warm brown above, paler below, with an orange rump and tail sides, and a large white wing patch. Juvenile males are duller versions of the adult male pattern. Bill, eye, legs, and feet are black in both sexes.
Identification
Key marks include the large white wing patch present in both sexes and the orange rump and tail sides. Males are distinguished by black faces and grey crowns, while females are uniformly warm brown above. Similar species within the Eurasian clade include the black redstart, Hodgson's redstart, and white-winged redstart.
Distribution & Habitat
Breeds in Manchuria, southeastern Russia, northeastern Mongolia, central China, and Korea. Migratory: subspecies P. a. auroreus winters in Korea, Japan, southeast coastal China, and Taiwan; subspecies P. a. leucopterus winters in northeast India and parts of Southeast Asia. Two subspecies recognized: eastern P. a. auroreus and western P. a. leucopterus.
Behavior & Ecology
Favors open forests, forest edges, agricultural margins, parks, and urban gardens. Reasonably confiding, often allowing close human approach. Breeds in summer months; mated pairs of the nominate subspecies observed in early May.
Conservation
Widespread and rather common. Not considered a threatened species by the IUCN.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Taxonomy
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Muscicapidae
- Genus
- Phoenicurus
Vocalizations
Subspecies (2)
-
Phoenicurus auroreus auroreus
breeds southern Siberia to Mongolia; winters to Japan and Ryukyu Islands (southern Japan)
Data Sources
Species description from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Bird images and sounds sourced from GBIF, contributed by citizen scientists worldwide under Creative Commons licenses.
Taxonomy data from AviList 2025.
