Thrushes (Turdidae)

Black Redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros) - HBW 10, p. 770

French: Rougequeue noir German: Hausrotschwanz Spanish: Colirrojo Tizón

Taxonomy: Motacilla Ochruros S. G. Gmelin, 1774, mountains of northern Gilan, Iran.
Has hybridized several times with P. phoenicurus. Proposed race aterrimus (Portugal, S & C Spain) merged with gibraltariensis. Races phoenicuroides and rufiventris intergrade; birds from W China (S Xinjiang) named as race xerophilus probably intermediate between them. Five subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

gibraltariensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) - Europe and NW Africa; non-breeding also N Africa and Middle East.
ochruros (S. G. Gmelin, 1774) - Asia Minor, Caucasus and NW Iran; non-breeding Middle East.
semirufus (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833) - W Syria, Lebanon and NE Israel.

See all 5 subspecies

gibraltariensis (J. F. Gmelin, 1789) - Europe and NW Africa; non-breeding also N Africa and Middle East.
ochruros (S. G. Gmelin, 1774) - Asia Minor, Caucasus and NW Iran; non-breeding Middle East.
semirufus (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833) - W Syria, Lebanon and NE Israel.
phoenicuroides (F. Moore, 1854) - S Russia (Tuva Republic) and W Mongolia S to Tien Shan, SE & S Kazakhstan and NW Pakistan; non-breeding NE Africa, Arabian Peninsula and SW & S Asia.
rufiventris (Vieillot, 1818) - Turkmenistan and Pamir-Alai Mts E through Himalayas to C China; non-breeding SW & S Asia.