Plumbeous Water Redstart Phoenicurus / Rhyacornis fuliginosa

Plumbeous Water Redstart Phoenicurus fuliginosus
(aka Rhyacornis fuliginosa)

Bhutan
March 2008

The Plumbeous Water-redstart is distributed from eastern Afghanistan through the Himalayas to northern and eastern China and south into northern Thailand, Indochina and Taiwan. See the distribution map at Birdlife International.

It is found on the edges and on boulders in rocky streams and rivers where it hunts for insects by making short flights across the water.

The male, seen here in photos 1 and 2, is dark slaty-blue with chestnut tail and vent while the female, as in photo 3, is slaty-grey above with two dotted wing-bars, a white rump and white on the edge of the tail. Underparts are whitish with grey barring though the barring is difficult to see in this photo.

Female Plumbeous Water Redstart, Paro, Bhutan, March 2008 - click for larger image

There is additional information available via Avibase.

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