Description:

Medium sized long bodied redstart. Male has blue-grey cap, black tail, and white on wing; coloration heavily obscured by brown fringes in non-breeding and first-winter plumages. Female has grey underparts, prominent double wing-bar, blackish tail, and chestnut rump.

Distribution:

Common summer visitor to the south-western parts of Gilgit-Baltistan, absent from Baltistan region. Occupies open montane forests with rocky slopes and little undergrowth, up to 3700m; winters in lower-altitude open forest and scrubby areas.

Behavior:

Feeds in typical redstart sally-to-ground maneuver, occasionally also in aerial sally after flying prey; forages in canopy and on ground, but far more arboreal than most congeners. Shakes tail, rather than shivering it. Feeds on insects including flies, beetles and ants, also spiders in summer; also occasionally berries and seeds mostly in winters.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Blue-capped Redstart in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Blue-capped Redstart

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.