CreatureData

Blackstart

Oenanthe melanura (Temminck, 1824)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The blackstart (Oenanthe melanura) is a species in the family Muscicapidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 14.5 g to 15.2 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Blackstart (Oenanthe melanura)
Photo: נצח פרביאש · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the blackstart

Weight
14.5 g – 15.2 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
rockysrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the blackstart live?

Not recorded

What is the blackstart?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The blackstart (Oenanthe melanura) is a chat found in desert regions in North Africa, the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula. It is resident throughout its range.

The blackstart is 14 cm (5.5 in) long and is named for its black tail, which is frequently fanned; the rest of its plumage is bluish-grey or grey-brown (North African races being browner, Middle Eastern races bluer). The sexes are similar. The song is a clear melancholy whistle: CHURlee...TRUloo...CHURlee...TRUlur..., with short phrases from the song used as a call.

The habitats of blackstarts are rocky deserts and mountain slopes; they nest in rock crevices lay 3–4 eggs. They feed on insects, taken mainly on the ground. The blackstart is a confident species, unafraid of people.

From the Wikipedia article “Blackstart” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blackstart&oldid=1374890192), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the blackstart endangered?

The blackstart is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the blackstart classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyMuscicapidae
  6. genusOenanthe
  7. SpeciesOenanthe melanura (Temminck, 1824)

Synonyms Cercomela melanura, Cercomela melanura melanura, Saxicola melanura

Other names and names in other languages (42)
  • Black-tailed rock chatEnglish
  • قليعي أسود الذيلArabic
  • ЧерноопашкаBulgarian
  • còlit cuanegreCatalan
  • skalníček černoocasýCzech
  • tindduWelsh
  • SortstjertDanish
  • SchwarzschwanzGerman
  • Schwarzschwanz-SteinschmätzerGerman
  • nigravosta enantoEsperanto
  • Colinegro RealSpanish
  • Colinegro comúnSpanish
  • mustsaba-kaljutäksEstonian
  • mustapyrstötaskuFinnish
  • Traquet à queue noireFrench
  • Traquet de roche à queue noireFrench
  • EarrdhubhIrish
  • שחור זנבHebrew
  • koromfarkú csukHungarian
  • VöluskottaIcelandic
  • CodineroItalian
  • Sassicola codaneraItalian
  • ハイイロイワビタキJapanese
  • juodauodegis šnekutisLithuanian
  • melnastīteLatvian
  • ZwartstaartDutch
  • svartstjertNorwegian
  • białorzytka czarnosternaPolish
  • rabinegroPortuguese
  • chasco-rabinegroPortuguese
  • ЧернохвосткаRussian
  • Чернохвостый скромный чеканRussian
  • ČáhppesbaðošrásttisNorthern Sami
  • skaliarik čiernochvostýSlovak
  • sivi cmokačSlovenian
  • Siva crnorepkaSerbian
  • svartstjärtSwedish
  • KarakuyrukTurkish
  • трактрак чорнохвостийUkrainian
  • 黑尾岩䳭Chinese
  • 黑尾岩鵖Chinese
  • 黑尾岩鵖Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the blackstart

Other species in the same genus Oenanthe.

CompareBlackstart vs Northern wheatearBlackstart vs Isabelline wheatearBlackstart vs Desert wheatearBlackstart vs Western black-eared wheatear

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the blackstart?

An adult blackstart weighs 14.5 g – 15.2 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the blackstart endangered?

The blackstart is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the blackstart?

The blackstart (Oenanthe melanura) belongs to the family Muscicapidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Blackstart (Oenanthe melanura). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blackstart

MLA

“Blackstart (Oenanthe melanura).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/blackstart.

BibTeX
@misc{blackstart_2026,
  title = {Blackstart (Oenanthe melanura)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/blackstart},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}