100 pairs. breeding populationof80- the UK,withanestimated the rarestbreedingbirdsin The BlackRedstartisoneof with populationsnowpresent inmanylarge evolution ofaclose in wallsor The frequen dense vegetationofan terrain. For by sparsevegetationandrocky,craggy from maritimetomont The specie rump andtaillessche tail. Thead from theSaxonred rump andtail.Thena striking plu and anoff the maleis ( ( a small The BlackR Ecology
Erithacus r Turdidae ) , m member of
s breedsin similar in dusky slategreywitha ult femaleisgreybrownwiththe roofs ofbuildingshasledtothe whitewin cy andconvenienceof ests, mead edstart ( ubecula age featureisthebrightchestnut Redstart commensalism withman, ) Phoenicurus o ste . size andshape theThru I ane all y heightareavoided. me ‘Redstart’comes arangeo o n s g ows and rt, breeding tnut thant panel.T which means Black Black cha
c n s black face plumage r f areas of hruros h family he male. acterised habitats he most toRobin e st sites red )
is
(Cramp 198 artificia metres or its preferen amongst smallgroundf this species.TheBlackRedstartisnotable for nestbuildingprovidesanidea an amples with man waste patchescolo cities inmainlandEuro insectivorou explanation maybecompetition withother they doin suburban h buildings. as railways,warehousesandlar less o Suburbs, parksandla ften l bu y W
colonized
mainland Europeisunknown.One more onopenperches, ce forhigh bare disturbedareasofsoil,and abitats moreofteninE upply ofsongpostsandcavities 8). s birdsparticularlytheRobin, t avoidingtreesandshrubs h y BlackRe
tha nised byweedspecie so n eeding passerinesby pe. Thepre ndscaped a dstarts do ng posts, industr ial l h oft n naturalo sites such ngland as ge public o r s abitat for eas are en at20 ence of t exploit s, r
Species Action Plan 2009 Species Action Plan 2009 Sweden (BrownandGrice2005). levels ofpredation,asin from atrun may bethatEnglish habitats in which isnot
source wasmidges London indicatedthatthepredominantfood Studies ofbreedingBlackRedsta Diet consist successfully eggs andanaverageo late July. May, withsecondbroo clutch especially thosethatarederelict. or onthe British bird. conservatio environment Black Redst Within the source (a invertebrates madeu isusuallylaidar T
n y Clutches usuallyconsistof4-6 internalledgesof s phids reared(BrownandGrice2005). UK thedist cated nestingseasonwithhigh . Forthis commonly a mainland Europe.Alternatelyit Nests areusuallyplace pic requireme of rt is a l Bl small invertebratesandfruit. ack Redstartha conce Hem
Diptera ound midApril–e ds laid p breeding birdssuffer nts areuniquefora f thecaseofsouthern reason the encountered 31%of ribution of n 2.7young i ptera trated int any (33%),other bita
6 t thefood
time upto
% d species’ buildings, pernest he urban The first breeding rt within insuch inholes ; ants a rly
There aresixrecognizedracesoccupyingan passage migrantandwintervisitort The BlackRedstartisarar Current statusanddistribution is onAppen also listeda of specia Wildlife and they arei birds ofcon this rarityBlackRedsta the rarestbreedingbirdsinUK. between 80and100pairs,makingitoneof Redstarts ispresentlythoughtto 1997). stable orin estimated a The totalE are oftherace Grice 2005).AllthoserecordedintheUK and eastwardsacrossallEurasia(Br south tothe from Englan extensive Palearticdist watercourses, sucha breeding sit reason forBlackRedstartspreference the breedingseasonisseenasmain The importanceofmidgesinthedietduring remaining 33%wasunknown)(Cra and fruitaccountedfor17%ofthe Hy Black Redstart m enoptera
The UKpopulationofbreedingBlack l legalprotect n CountrysideAct1981asworthy s dix IIofthe t e u s d, southernSwedenan creasing (H MediterraneanandBlackSeas 4.5millio cluded in ervation concernintheUK,and s closeto 6%; aRed ropean breedingpop gibraltariensis. Lepidoptera s Da canals. Schedule1ofthe n stillorslo ribution that Berne Conventiono ta Bookspeciesand pairswith i agemeijer andBlair rts areregardedas on. Thespeciesis 6% e breeder, Inviewo mp 1988). w fluctuate
ulation is o diet(the extends ). Seeds d Russia numbers o mo theUK. wn and ving n f
Black Redstart
the Conservation of European Wildlife and The first confirmed breeding for Greater Natural Habitats 1979. Manchester was of a record of two fledged young from a nest in central Manchester in During much of the 19th Century Black 1977. Five territories were recorded in the Redstarts were considered occasional city centre during 1981 (Holland, Spence and visitors to the UK but by 1871 they were Sutton 1984). Although it seems likely that considered regular winter visitors to the south Black Redstart were breeding in the city prior west and the east coast (Brown and Grice to this date, taking advantage of the 2005). The earliest recorded breeding numerous derelict bombed sites as in attempt was in Durham in 1845. However, London, sadly no records have been the first attempts to be confirmed were 2 preserved to verify this (Judith Smith pers. pairs that bred on cliffs near Hastings, com). Outside of Manchester city centre pairs Sussex in 1923. By 1942 London had have also bred in Ashton-Under-Lyne during emerged as the centre of the population with 1996 – 1998 and 2004. Species Action Plan 2009 at least 3 breeding pairs and over 20 singing males. The onset of the 1939-45 war and the associated derelict bombed sites is seen as the fundamental reason for this population increase, although such historical factors need to be seen in the context of an already expanding European breeding range.
Today, the population of Black Redstarts in the UK is concentrated in London and the The wintering population of Black Redstart in West Midlands but there is also a small but the UK is around 500 birds, with the majority important breeding population of Black located on the south and east coasts. UK Redstarts in Manchester city centre. Records breeding birds are rarely found in the city held from 1992 to 2007 show that Black centre breeding locations during the winter Redstarts have bred or attempted to breed months, although it is unclear if these birds within the Piccadilly Basin area of central winter locally on the west coast, or migrate to Manchester every year except 2003. The winter on the south and east coast with total city population is unknown, but may be continental birds. It is also possible that the as low as 2 – 3 pairs. birds that breed within the UK may winter in the Mediterranean basin or northeast Africa.
Species Action Plan 2009 and unplan mean thattheirpresen such asManchestercitycentre,canoften low breedin during surveyandthiscoupledwit Black Redst being lost. the provisionofreplacementhabit been overlooked,bothinsurvey recent yearstheBla In therege and suitable caused a redevelopment ofcityc with decline are consider Within GreaterManchesterBlackRedstart Factors affectingthespecies Greater Ma undertaken ifBlackRedstartaret importance lo nchester. ned for.It neration thathastakenplacein ss ofBrown
a that active builtstructu , g ed tobe mainlyduetothelar rt arenotoriouslydifficulttofind density de istherefore c k Redstarth within alar ce cango conservatio f clining, entre sites. ield sitesfo r es fornestingsites. orth wo o
h
n unnoticed a survive in of critical ge area, thevery rk andin r feeding reatened This has a workis ge-scale t tothat s ofte n
Current actions Black Redst next five walls acrosstheGMconurbation Create aminimumof Target Redstarts in Maintain Objective
Objectives andtargets
Black Redstart ♦ ♦ ♦ Manchester TownCentre. Ancoats a Grocery ro Manchester, including successfully A number best practice. and greenroofdesignt Redstart Ecology,surveying,mitigation planners an Workshops havebeen exhibition at featured inanurbangardening national an The UnicornBuildinghasfeaturedin ye a
GreaterMa a ars, particularlyinarea rts arekno breeding populationofBlack nd theB of inChorlton,MERCi URBIS. of greenroofshaveb d ecologistscoveringBlack built d localpr
50 greenroofs/green w nchester. n tobreed. in D carriedoutfor theUnicorn o ess and P buildin helppro
overthe s where Greater
g in m was een ote
Black Redstart
Proposed actions Lead Partners ♦ Disseminate information concerning the DC’s District Councils of Greater ecology of Black Redstarts and best Manchester practice for habitat creation for Black GMBP Greater Manchester Biodiversity Redstarts [including this plan]. All Project Ongoing. GMEU Greater Manchester Ecology Unit
♦ Require applications for development in Bird recorders areas known to be used by Black BTCV Redstarts to be accompanied by a Developers survey for Black Redstarts (see Appendix 1), and on sites where the
species is found require that mitigation Species Action Plan 2009 be proposed for any possible Best practice guidelines disturbance to the species that may be caused to Black Redstarts, including Action for Black Redstarts in Greater wherever possible proposals for new Manchester must focus on habitat creation to habitat creation. GMEU, Developers, replace lost brownfield habitat. Since in the DC’s. Ongoing city centre brownfield habitat is invariably lost to new built development in an already very ♦ Actively engage with developers to built up area, the only available space where encourage habitat creation schemes in lost habitat can be recreated is on the roof new developments [whether or not spaces of new and existing buildings. The Black Redstart are present]. GMEU, idea of green roof creation specifically for DC’s, GMBP. Ongoing Black Redstart conservation is a relatively
♦ Monitor Black Redstart populations new concept, but the idea has been tried with across the conurbation. GMBP, Bird some success in London and Birmingham.
recorders. Ongoing Green roofs and habitat creation for Black Redstarts ♦ Monitor and report on the success of
habitat creation schemes. GMBP. 2012 Ecological research on the ecology of Black Redstart has shown that optimum-breeding habitat requires the following key features:
Species Action Plan 2009 When designinggreenroofsforBlack overlaid withrockand peat free expanded claypellets( a mixofaggregate,suchas Redstarts, thesubstrat ♦ ♦ replacement oflostbrow make as requirements intogreenroofdesigncan Incorporatin ♦ poor andsubjectto Sparsely vegetatedrubbleisnut of brownfieldlandar undisturbed for water andpreferablyrelatively preferably closetostill vegetated Relatively smallareasofverysparsely nest site level, preferablywithinstructures, heights fro A varietyofholesand suitable provide protectionfr gorges ofth correlate totheclifffacesandopen mill buildi vertical featurese.g.b Complex b particularly on which plants tha conditions, compost. T g theabove i son s. gnificant contribution t
m will support ngs –th during theb Black which canf e birds’natu g u rubble orrockyte 3mto50maboveground postsand ilt structur feeding. Extensive e shouldbebasedon /orstone h Leca), and is shou nfield habita le
a r the invertebrates Redstart f e notrequired. u ese stru crushe eeding sea r nesting sites. om predators, drought str vour thekindof es withmany or slowmoving dges atvarious al habitat.T ilding gant ecological ld chippings thenbe d bricko inthe topsoil t.
ct areas s rrain, ures eed, rient ries, e on. as hey ss, or r
for thelarge and contour In designin of bareorsparselyvegetated areas. specifically f that thema to colonise green roofalthoughth Vegetation canbeintroducedontoanew green roof. incorporated Black Red in turnprovideanabun invertebrates tocoloniseonagreenroofwill area. allow entry 10 –15cminsizethat mound isth with thebr sandcast area ofsan Black Redstart Pond atUn l e
Providing effect that s naturally. However,itisimportant g ed inheight d s en coveredwithboulder o oadest are by invertebratesintoth intothede jority ofagreenroofdesigned tart. Su hibernaculaacentr t hibernacu orsoilis r BlackRe icor n GreenRo isangledat
e roofcanalsobeleft ch hiberna a such featuresfor dstarts shou compacted toforma from zeroupto50cm l are looselyplacedto dant foodsourcefor a. sign forthe southfa
of (Ma y 3 2 cula were cing. The a 0 0 ld consist e central s around 0 l mound degrees Unicorn 8 )
Black Redstart
If the roof is to be seeded or plug planted this establish sparse and low growing. should be done with species typical of It is not essential to introduce artificial nesting drought stressed and nutrient poor sites for Black Redstart, such as nest boxes. conditions. However, if they are to be used these should
be boxes designed specifically for Black Some suggested species would be: Redstart, such as the open fronted
woodcreete box (2HW) produced by St John’s Wort Hypericum perforatum Schwegler. Yellow-wort Blackstonia perfoliata Common Centuary Centaurium erythaea Kidney Vetch Anthyllis vulneraria Common Bird’s-foot-trefoil Lotus corniculatus Black Medick Medicago lupulina Dove’s-foot Crane’s-bill Geranium molle Species Action Plan 2009 Common Eyebright Euphrasia nemorosa Betony Stachys officinalis Devil’s-bit Scabious Succisa pratensis Ribwort Plantain Lantago lanceolata
Selfheal Prunella vulgaris
If sedum matting is to be used it should only Green Roof at Merci (April 2008 two weeks after construction) cover a small amount of the total roof area and should be planted into the aggregate mix If the roof is not close to water it is useful to to encourage colonization by other plant incorporate some areas that will hold some species. The use of wildflower turf as an shallow water, as these areas will encourage alternative to sedum matting is to be strongly invertebrates such as midges on which the encouraged. birds feed. Such water features can be designed to benefit other wildlife too, and the The area of habitat creation for Black pond that was created as part of the Unicorn Redstart need not be extensive, small roof grocery green roof was planted with over 20 2 areas of 25m will readily be used. Once species of wetland plants and has already established a green roof created for Black been visited by dragonflies. This also applies Redstarts will need very little, if any, to generally to green roof design and a roof maintenance. The very low nutrient status created specifically for Black Redstart can and drought conditions that will exist on such easily incorporate features that benefit other a roof will keep any vegetation that does wildlife species too.
Species Action Plan 2009
Redstart providedbygreenroofs,the only areasofhabitat In areasthatareparticularlybuiltup,withthe aggregate substrates. tiered wallfilledwith different heights,forexamplebyprovidinga provision of Green wallcon green walls considered aggregate, orthecostsofprovisionare cannot str practicable creation of For thedevelopmentofbuildingsw Green Wall optimum ha complement provision of Green Ro of atMERCi(Apri
tobepr
s bitat. areasofa has beende greenwallscou because, fo greenroofsandextendareasof a greenro u
cturally supportareasof
constructio s truct ohibitive, th remainingforBlack different of is ggregate exposedat i veloped. r example, on relie l 2 n 008 t ) not considered l w d be o w s onthe grading of e ideao e theroof eks usedt here the after o f
London:Poyser Brown, A.,Grice,P.2 References Canals Urban mana Livingroofs. Society Manchester: Manche Breeding Birdsin Holland, P.,Spence.I.,Sutton,T.1984 Poyser Their distrib EBCC AtlasofEuropeanBreedingBirds: Hargemeijer, WJM.Blair,MJ.1 Oxford: Tyrant Flycatcher the BirdsofWesternPalearctic.Vol5 of Europe,theMiddleEastandNorthAfrica: Cramp, S.(ed)1988. found he Furth for greenroofinformation Links torelevantBAP’s Black Redstart er infor O re: xfo org
r ged greenspace u m d UniversityPress tion andAbundance. ation abo
– IndependentUKresource s Handbook of 005. Greater Manchester. u ster Ornithologica t
gree Birds in to Thrushes n roo
997. f the Bird England s canbe London: The s . . l
Black Redstart
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Steve Young for the use of the Black Redstart photographs and Graham Jones for supplying the green roof photographs. Thanks also to Judith Smith for provision of Black Redstart records.
Author
Graham Jones
Reserves Manager for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside Wildlife Species Action Plan 2009 Trust [email protected]
Species Action Plan 2009 natural habitat.Theyprovide protectionfrom cliff faces buildings. features e. Complex b Nesting Ha the breeding which BlackRedstartfeed,particula plants that conditions, nutrient poo required. Sparselyvegetatedrubbleis Extensive areasofBro preferably relativelyundisturbed,f close tost vegetated, rubbleorrockyterrain,preferably Relatively Feeding Habitat the lastfive Black Redst the priorityareasshownon Surve Manchester BiodiversityActionPlan. Priority Speciesa nesting. Th 1). Thelegislationprot Wildlife and specially protectedunderthetermsof Black Redst Protocol Appendix 1BlackRedstartSurve
y will T u be requiredofsuitablehabitatsin bitat e speciesisalsoaBiodiversity and opengorgesoft CountrysideAct1981(Schedule small areasofverysparsely will support years. hese stru g. building r andsubje ill orslow which can a season. a ilt stru rts ( rts haveb Phoenicurus ochr ctur s listedinth ct es withmanyvertical favourthekindo theinvertebrateson ures correla moving gantries ects thebir w c een recorde t todroughtstress, nfield land Map 1 water and o e Greater y r feeding uros he birds’ rly during te tothe and mill d
arenot d s whilst within where ) are . f
Surve presence/ab season (Ap effort, onew Tw for feeding Surve preferably withinstructur heights fro A varietyofholesan sites. predators, suitableson developmen sought for Biodiversity ActionPlan Under thetermsofGreaterMancheste inclusive). optimum b these areasbeleftun identified bysurvey, Should af Mitigation breeding willbetakento inclusive) toestablishb optimum s effort, oneweekbetweeneachvisit,inthe Three for breeding Black Redstart ♦ ♦ ♦ o visits Singing males Fledged young Actual nest visitsrequiredwithtwohour y y req req m eeding and r r habitat u required wit u u t. sence. eek apart, 3mto50mabovegroundlevel, il toJulyinclusive) eeding period(ApriltoJuly rvey season(ApriltoJuly irements forhabitatsuitable irements forhabitatsuitable site withyounglocated
itisrecomme in /or breedin d ledgesa g losses ca disturbed d r compensati h es, asnest include: theoptimu eeding. Evidenceof postsan twohour g
establish used by d nesting nded that on willbe sites. u t m s survey site s survey various ring the surve be y r
Black Redstart
Suitable habitat creation for Black Redstarts is described in the species action plan for Black Redstarts Species Action Plan 2009