In the
wild the redstart is a summer
visitor, coming to this country
from around April, and breeding
here and staying until September.
It breeds in mature woodland,
oak woods being a favourite
haunt where there are holes
in the trees for nest sites.
These
birds are excellent aviculturist
specimens it is in the aviary
where you can appreciate close
up the beauty of these birds.
Both
cocks and hens are lovely
birds, each sex having its
own endearing qualities.
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A
proud Redstart cock |
Redstart
Hen |
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| DESCRIPTION:
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Redstarts
are around 14cm in length
and very easy to sex as the
cock and hen colours differ
so much, the cock is a splendidly
colourful character with his
slate grey back and black
wings and face and orange
breast and tail, the hen is
duller in colour being a brown
colour all over with a orange
tail like the cock.
The
orange tail gives the redstart
its other name of fire-tail,
the birds often quiver there
tail, it is a characteristic
of the redstart other characteristic
is a bobbing up and down in
the same way as a robin does.
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| FEEDING: |
The
food for redstarts should
be a good fine softbill mix,
to which various items can
be added such as broccoli
peas and cheese, also ox or
lambs heart minced as fine
as you can get it can be added
too.
Live food in the form of caterpillar’s,
spiders, wax moths, waxworms
and mealworms and the like
need to be fed to the chicks. |
| ACOMIDATION:
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Like
all British birds the more
room you can offer for accommodation
to breed in the better, but
this is not always possible
so an ideal size for a pair
of redstarts would be a 6ft
x 3ft flight.
They can be a difficult bird
to pair up as they are so
territorial and if not in
condition the birds can kill
each other, this fact should
never be ignored.
The ideal situation would
be to have 2 small flights
next to each other, the cock
in one the hen in the other.
So after watching your birds
you could put the hen in with
the cock when they are ready
so avoiding any casualties,
unfortunately this is not
possible for every one myself
included so what I don’t
was to make a cage out of
cage fronts for the hen.
The
top and all for sides of
this “cage”
were made from the fronts
so the cock could see his
hen within the cage where
ever he was in the flight,
I fixed this cage to the
inside of the cock’s
flight and this housed the
hen inside, she stayed there
quite happy for a number
of weeks.
The cock often sat on top
of the cage and called to
his hen, the birds were
able to establish a bond
without the risk of any
casualties, after a couple
of weeks The cage door was
open and the hen flew in
and out at will, sometimes
to be with the cock other
times she used the cage
to escape his aggression.
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| NEST
AND EGGS: |
The
birds can use open fronted
nest boxes or “tit”
types with the hole in the
front; I preferred to use
them as I thought there would
be less ring rejection if
this type were used.
Boxes should be placed at
differing heights if possible
at knee height then waist
and another at shoulder height,
these will give redstarts
a good choice and hopefully
they will pick a one to nest
in.
Redstarts build there nests
from dry grass straw moss
and animal hair to line it
with.
They can take a while to get
started but once they decide
to build, they usually continue
tirelessly.
It is the hen that does all
of the building, usually the
cock just sits on a favourite
perch singing away.
Up
to 7 eggs are laid these
are a blue colour with very
faint brown spots on them,
and these hatch around 12
to 14 days.
The chicks are fed by both
parents on various l types
of live food also some egg
food and scrambled egg will
be taken.
They can be ringed at 5
days old and leave the nest
at around 15-20 days old.
If left with their parents
the chicks will become independent
very soon after leaving
the nest.
In their nest feather they
are similar coloured to the
hen although are specked too
looking like robin chicks. |
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The
Black Redstart:
A
sub-species of the common
redstart is the black redstart.
These
magnificent birds are much
rarer that the common redstart,
some over winter in this
country while other birds
migrate.
The cock is a splendid looking
bird in breeding plumage
with its sooty black breast
and face and dark grey upper
parts and he has a white
patch on his wing.
The
hen is a much more sombre
looking bird she has a grey
brown look about her appearance,
the cock is very similar
out of the breeding season,
both sexes possess the red
orange rump and tail typical
of the redstarts.
It
is interesting to note that
when trying to breed the
black redstart you don’t
have the same problems associated
with fighting as in the
common redstart all other
details are the same when
trying to breed them.
Black redstarts are on Schedule
4 of the wildlife and countryside
act so need a permit to
keep them this is available
from DEFFRA.
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The
less common Black
Redstart |
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OTHER
INFO:
Buffs
and yellows are clearly
obvious in this species,
both feather qualities have
a frosted appearance but
the buffs lack the colour
of the yellow, looking like
a washed out version.
Both sexes give off a “tut”
sound it is quite funny
and reminds me of a noise
of disapproval, the cocks
do have a song but although
short it is quite pleasing
to the ear.
A
sulpha drug such as intradine
is given in the water to
the young bird until after
the moult is over.
Redstarts
can become tame and with
a little time and patients
can become confiding and
feed out of the hand, although
a rewarding thing to achieve
it does take a long time.
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Article
© John Reid 2006 |
