Suomi
Svenska
Polski
Čeština
Slovenčina
Norsk
Dansk
Red-flanked Bluetail
Tarsiger cyanurus
Identify the Red-flanked Bluetail by sound or photo and log your sightings with Birdpass.
The Red-flanked Bluetail is a small, robin-like chat with a blue tail and orange flanks. It breeds in dense, mossy conifer forests from north-eastern Europe across Siberia to Japan and winters in Southeast Asia and the Himalayas. Males are deep blue above; females and young are olive-brown but also have a blue tail. Its breeding range has been spreading west, and it is a scarce autumn vagrant in western Europe.
Did you know?
- It was once grouped with the chats but is now placed with the Old World flycatchers.
- Even females and young show a blue tail.
About the species
Identification
In all plumages it shows a blue tail, orange-red flanks and a white throat. The breeding male is blue above and white below; females and young are brownish with a pale eye-ring, but the bluish tail and orange flanks separate them from similar songbirds. It lacks the Robin's red breast and the Redstart's rufous tail.
Family
Turdidae
Size
Small (sparrow)
Colours
blue, orange, white
About the habitat
Old, dense spruce and mixed taiga with rich undergrowth, fallen logs and mossy ground, often on hillsides; on migration forest edges and thickets.
Diet
Mainly insects and other small invertebrates caught in short sallies or picked from the ground; berries such as bilberries in autumn.
Behaviour
Perches low, often flicking its blue tail, and darts out to catch prey or drops to the ground. The male sings a soft, melancholy, high trill from treetops, often at night; the call is a sharp “tak”. It nests on or near the ground among roots or in a bank, laying 3–5 eggs.
Sources
Photo: M.Nishimura, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tarsiger cyanurus.jpg
Text: Wikipedia (English) + FinBIF species descriptions, CC BY-SA 4.0; FinBIF: CC BY 4.0 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-flanked_bluetail
