Main content

Black Redstart

Bill Oddie presents the black redstart.

Tweet of the Day is a series of fascinating stories about our British birds inspired by their calls and songs.

Bill Oddie presents the black redstart. It was the German Luftwaffe which enabled black redstarts to gain a real foothold here. The air-raids of the Blitz created bombsites which mimicked their rocky homes and the weeds that grew there attracted insects. In 1942 there over twenty singing males in London alone and now they're being encouraged by the creation of ‘green roof’ habitats, rich in flowers and insects.

Available now

1 minute

Last on

Sun 16 Apr 2023 08:58

Black redstart (Phoenicurus ochruros)

Webpage image courtesy of Roger Tidman (rspb-images.com)

Broadcasts

  • Fri 28 Mar 2014 05:58
  • Fri 17 Apr 2015 05:58
  • Mon 18 Jul 2016 05:58
  • Sun 24 Jul 2016 08:58
  • Tue 9 Jul 2019 05:58
  • Tue 25 May 2021 05:58
  • Sun 16 Apr 2023 08:58

Featured in...

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Exploring all things puffin - the silly and the serious, the scientific and the cultural.

Try this new podcast

Five stories of birds and birdsong are told by the people inspired by them.

Podcast