The Black Redstart - Phoenicurus ochruros, to give it its scientific name - is a small, Robin-sized bird with an eponymous red tail. The ‘Black’ in its name comes from the male’s plumage which is sooty grey, with black on its face and breast, while the female’s plumage is grey-brown. It belongs to the Chat group of birds, a subgroup of the Thrush family. It is a migrant species that breeds across Central and Southern Europe. In the milder breeding areas, the Black Redstart is

Paul Sterry is a prolific wildlife author and a passionate conservationist. He founded the international competition Bird Photographer of the Year and is a founder and trustee of the conservation grant-awarding charity Birds on the Brink (BOTB). And he is a great photographer! Horus Swift © Paul Sterry Paul recently sent me this beautiful photograph of a Horus Swift taken on a recent trip to Senegal. It was taken at Gamadji Saré, above the sand banks of a tributary of the Riv