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White-throated Redstart Phoenicurus schisticeps 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

15 cm; 15–17 g. Male has slaty-blue crown, black face to back and wings, rufous rump, long white band from wing-coverts to secondaries, rufous patch on lower scapulars, blackish tail; small white triangle on throat, rufous-orange breast to vent, white on lower belly; in fresh plumage scaled buff on upper body; bill and legs dark. Female is mid-brown above, buff-brown below, with similar white areas to male’s but generally less white on throat, rufous rump, blackish tail. Juvenile is like female but dark, heavily spotted buff, with weak throat patch and wingband.

Systematics History

Monotypic.

Subspecies

Monotypic.

Distribution

C & E Himalayas E from WC Nepal, and C China (E & SE Qinghai, S Gansu and SW Shaanxi, S to S & SE Tibet, and N Yunnan).

Habitat

Breeds in subalpine habitats, often near streams, below tree-line in open dry rainshadow areas with park-like forest of scrub oak and dwarf juniper, and regenerating burnt areas; commonly in pine-cypress (Pinus-Cupressus) forest, fir (Picea) with birch (Betula) and rhododendron, dry bushy areas with Caragana, Lonicera, Berberis and Rosa, at 2700–4500 m (from 2400 m in China). Winters in similar habitats but also in leafless birch tracts, open meadows, stony scrub-covered hillsides, dry watercourses and village environs, at 1400–4200 m.

Movement

Partially sedentary, some males merely moving to adjacent valleys, but some slight vertical and local movements. Movement from mid-Oct, but many still at high elevations in Tibet mid-Nov; return early Mar; returning migrants seen mid-Feb to Apr in China.

Diet and Foraging

Insects mainly in summer; also berries and seeds, in winter particularly of Hippophae and Juniperus. Makes short flights from perch.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a quiet series of short, dry, trilled phrases, each containing 2–3 consecutive note types and each starting hesitantly with several high short strokes, usually accelerating towards end. Call a high dry rattle, sometimes preceded by drawn-out “zieh”.

Breeding

Mid-May to Aug in Tibet; juveniles Jun–Jul in Nepal. Nest a cup of moss, grass, small dry twigs, leaves and bast, lined with soft grass, fibres, rootlets, feathers, hair and/or wool, placed in hole in tree, bank or rock within 2 m of ground. Eggs 3–4, plain reddish-cream to pale greenish-grey, sometimes with fine faint orange-clay speckles. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Common in Tibet and China; scarce in Himalayas. Status in N Myanmar uncertain; presumed scarce non-breeding visitor.
Distribution of the White-throated Redstart - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the White-throated Redstart

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Collar, N. (2020). White-throated Redstart (Phoenicurus schisticeps), 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.whtred1.01
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