Moussier's redstart

Moussier's redstart
	Male, Toubkal, Morocco
	Female, Cap Bon Peninsula, Tunisia
Conservation status
	; Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Muscicapidae
Genus:	Phoenicurus
Species:	P. moussieri
Binomial name
	Phoenicurus moussieri; (Olphe-Galliard, 1852)

Moussier's redstart (Phoenicurus moussieri) is a small passerine bird in the genus Phoenicurus (redstarts), formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now classified as an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). It is an endemic resident breeder in the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa. Its habitat is open woodland in rocky areas from sea level up to 3000 m altitude in the mountains.^[2]

It is the smallest redstart, only 12 cm long and 14–15 g weight. The male has a black head with a broad white stripe running above each eye and down the side of the neck. The upperparts are black other than a white wing patch, and the rich chestnut tail, from which it and other redstarts get their names (start is an old word for tail). The underparts are a rich orange-red. The female has a pale brown head and upperparts, and the underparts are a paler orange than the male, although generally redder than the underparts of the similar but larger female common redstart.^[3]

It is named after Jean Moussier (1795–1850) who was an amateur naturalist and a surgeon in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars.^[4]

^ BirdLife International (2018). "Phoenicurus moussieri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22710069A132085033. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22710069A132085033.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
^ Hoyo, J. del; et al., eds. (2005). Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 10. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 773. ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6.
^ Snow, D. W.; Perrins, C. M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic (Concise ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-854099-1.
^ Beolen, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. Helm: Christopher. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-7136-6647-2.

[iucn_status_12_November_2021-1] BirdLife International (2018). "Phoenicurus moussieri". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2018: e.T22710069A132085033. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22710069A132085033.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.

[Hoyo-2] Hoyo, J. del; et al., eds. (2005). Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 10. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 773. ISBN 978-84-87334-72-6.

[Snow-3] Snow, D. W.; Perrins, C. M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic (Concise ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-854099-1.

[4] Beolen, Bo; Watkins, Michael (2003). Whose Bird? Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. Helm: Christopher. p. 241. ISBN 978-0-7136-6647-2.

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