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Blue-capped Redstart Phoenicurus coeruleocephala Scientific name definitions

Nigel Collar
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2005

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

c. 15 cm; 13–17 g. Male has greyish-blue crown to nape, shading to black upperparts, with bold white band from shoulder to tertials; black continuing onto face and upper breast, sharply demarcated from white lower underparts; bill and legs black. Female is dull greyish-brown above, slightly paler below becoming whitish towards vent, has two narrow whitish wingbars, chestnut rump, blackish tail. Juvenile like female, but darker brown with buff scaling, whitish-edged tertials.

Systematics History

Lack of red in male plumage implies most distinctive of redstarts, although suggestions that it merits placement in a separate genus are not supported by available genetic data; more research needed. Species name is noun phrase and thus invariable in gender; often listed as caeruleocephala (as in HBW) but original spelling must stand (1). Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

Tien Shan from SE Kazakhstan and W China (W Xinjiang) S to NE & E Afghanistan and E through W & C Himalayas to C Nepal, possibly also Bhutan; non-breeding at lower altitudes S of the breeding range.

Habitat

Breeds in open, relatively dry forests generally with little undergrowth, mainly pine-cypress (Pinus-Cupressus) areas, upper edge of deodar (Cedrus deodar) forest, fir (Abies) with birch (Betula) and juniper (Juniperus), recent thickets, scrub on rocky hillsides; 2400–3900 m in Himalayas. Also in hazel scrub in Afghanistan, and in Kyrgyzstan favouring climatically drier areas than P. erythronotus. Winters in open valleys and hillsides, at 1200–3500 m. In China breeds at 2400–4300 m; winters in pine forest, scrub and olive groves at 1200–3000 m. Generally keeps to shaded lower storeys inside conifer forests, at least when co-occurring with P. schisticeps.

Movement

Altitudinal migrant to outer foothills of Himalayas, but part of population stays close to breeding grounds all year. Migrants may not become numerous until second half of winter, Jan–Mar, but winter displacements occur from Oct and may depend on severity of weather.

Diet and Foraging

Insects in summer; also occasionally berries and seeds. Moths and caterpillars seen brought to young. Feeds in typical redstart sally-to-ground manoeuvre, occasionally also in aerial sally after flying prey; forages in canopy and on ground, but far more arboreal than most congeners. Shakes tail, rather than shivering it.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song, from lateral branch fairly high in tree, recalls that of Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia), a series of loud, fast, irregular, ringing, see-sawing jingles, “trrri-trrru-trrri-trrru-trrri-trrru-trruwhit-trruwhit”, repeated with variations for minutes on end. Call a plaintive piping “eet” in alarm, also repeated “tk” clicks.

Breeding

May–Jun in Afghanistan and Tadjikistan; mid-May to end Jun/early Jul in Pakistan, May–Jul in Kashmir and Apr–Jul in Nepal; probably occasionally double-brooded. Nest a bulky broad-based shallow cup of coarse grass, bark, dry leaves and moss, lined with feathers and wool, placed on or near ground in rock fissure, among roots, in hollow under rotten log, in bank or in thick bush. Eggs 2–4, plain greyish-white to pale grey-green or dull creamy-buff with microscopic pale red freckling. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Fairly common in Afghanistan. Locally common in N Pakistan and E to N India; less common in Nepal. Uncommon in Tien Shan and Pamir-Alai.
Distribution of the Blue-capped Redstart - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Blue-capped Redstart

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. (2020). Blue-capped Redstart (Phoenicurus coeruleocephala), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.bucred1.01
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