Identify bird seen near Mam Tor Castleton (1 Viewer)

[jedimaster53]

Can anyone identify the following bird from the description below please. We are in our late 60's and never seen one before and cannot find an image anywhere.

Size: About sparrow size maybe a touch bigger
Head: very distinctive, Black on top, vivid white band around the eyes
Throat: white then black running down to the breast
Breast: Tan/Orangish leading down to fawn
In flight: vivid orange (of maybe bright tan) tail feathers
Habitat: Mixed habitat of grassland, bracken, marshy and trees

Looks a bit like a male redstart but not as big and redstart doesn't have the vivid white band around the eyes. Couldn't get a photo unfortunately.

Any ideas welcomed.

thanks

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello,
welcome to birdforum.
Your description fits a male Common Redstart.
Edit: just read, that you considered the white area on forehead wrong/unusual for this species, but its a feature of this species, maybe you find a well-marked one?

 

[jedimaster53]

Hello,
welcome to birdforum.
Your description fits a male Com

 

[jedimaster53]

No don't believe it's a redstart, this bird was smaller and had a black head and the white band was like a bandit mask around the eyes, also had white under the throat before another black patch. thanks for the suggestion though.

 

[jedimaster53]

Hello,
welcome to birdforum.
Your description fits a male Common Redstart.
Edit: just read, that you considered the white area on forehead wrong/unusual for this species, but its a feature of this species, maybe you find a well-marked one?

Thanks, maybe it is a well marked redstart, but never seen one with such vivid markings before.

 

[Dimitra_v]

No don't believe it's a redstart, this bird was smaller and had a black head and the white band was like a bandit mask around the eyes, also had white under the throat before another black patch. thanks for the suggestion though.

have you considered a whinchat? I always consude them with male common redstarts. But I may be wrong. Look them up to see

 

[Butty]

Reed bunting
(and other random suggestions)

 

[Alexander Stöhr]

Hello Jedimaster,
agree with you and all, that there are several other birds that you might have seen, but there are few other (european) birds (vagrants and escapes, exotics excluded) with vivid orange tones in the tail (and then quite regular catches attention/is well visible in flight in Redstarts, I thought I read your comment like this. Correct or wrong?)

https://www.weser-kurier.de/resources/0266-11a0b5924d5f-66d05b4e6587-1000/format/large/gartenrotschwanz_vogel_vogel_nabu_bremen.jpeg

Another suggesting is a female Bluethroat? I searched for a picture that fits your description: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...at_Rajkot.jpg/220px-Blue_throat_at_Rajkot.jpg

 

[jedimaster53]

Thanks everybody, so I've checked out the suggestions, but none really fit what we saw. It's probably a well marked redstart as suggested due to the orange tail, but what astonished us was the vivid white band around the eyes and the very black patch under the throat, never seen the like before, truly a beautiful thing.

 

[Butty]

Striking white above the eye and on the forehead, and lots of black on the throat, are perfectly normal for redstart. Sorted 👍🏻

 

[pianoman]

Here's a strikingly marked Redstart:

Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) - Woodland Trust

Learn all about the redstart, a colourful summer visitor and Atlantic rainforest specialist. These handsome birds love the mild, wet conditions of the UK's west coast woodlands.

www.woodlandtrust.org.uk

The black can extend even further down the breast than it does on this individual