29 May 2019

Ehrenberg's Redstart - Jubail

A really smart Common Redstart of the sub-species samamisicus which is often known as 'Ehrenberg's Redstart' was seen in Jubail recently. This sub-species breeds in the southern Balkans and Greece east to Turkmenistan, south Uzbekistan and Iran and winter in north-east Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. They are slightly greyer and darker above, with a large white wing patch, which can be variable in size. The light was poor so I did not get a good photograph but you can see how really smart and different this sub-species looks to the normal Common Redstart.
samamisicus