# Common redstart (*Phoenicurus phoenicurus*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-redstart  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus), also called the redstart, is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds group, placed in the order Passeriformes and the family Muscicapidae. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 14.59 g, up to 15 g, and a wingspan of 22 cm. The common redstart is a migratory, perching invertivore of woodland, with a geographic range of 14,490,000 km². It lays 6.18 eggs per clutch with 2 clutches per year, incubates them for 13.5 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 14.6 g – 15 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 22 cm |
| Lifespan | 10.2 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | woodland |
| Egg incubation | 13.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 5.9 – 6.18 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 2 |
| Lifestyle | Perching |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Muscicapidae
- genus: Phoenicurus
- species: *Phoenicurus phoenicurus* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Motacilla phoenicurus*, *Motacilla titys*, *Phoenicura albifrons*, *Phoenicura muraria*, *Phoenicura nigricollis*, *Phoenicura ruticilla*, *Phoenicurus muralis*, *Phoenicurus ruficilla*, *Phoenicurus ruticilla*, *Rubecula arborea*, *Sylvia phoenicurus*, *Sylvia phoenicurus*, *Sylvia tithys*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common redstart?

The common redstart is a bird in the songbirds and other perching birds group, belonging to the family Muscicapidae in the order Passeriformes.

### How heavy is the common redstart?

An adult common redstart weighs 14.59 g, with values up to 15 g, and has a wingspan of 22 cm.

### What does the common redstart eat?

The common redstart is an invertivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.

### What habitat does the common redstart live in?

The common redstart lives in woodland, and it is a migratory bird with a perching lifestyle.

### Is the common redstart endangered?

No. The common redstart is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the common redstart live?

The common redstart has a lifespan of 10.2 years, with values up to 10.25 years.

### How many eggs does the common redstart lay?

The common redstart lays 6.18 eggs per clutch and has 2 clutches per year, with an incubation period of 13.5 days.

### Who named the common redstart?

The common redstart, Phoenicurus phoenicurus, was named by (Linnaeus, 1758).

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Common redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-redstart