The structure is cup-shaped, dense and deep. The Red-flanked Bluetail's nest is arranged in a shelter: hollows, semi-hollows, between the roots of a tree, on the ground under a fallen trunk, and in a dusty stump. It nests on the ground, in a rotten stump, hollow or in a felled tree. It also preys on flying insects, like many other Old World flycatchers. It feeds on insects and other invertebrates, collecting them from the branches of trees and shrubs, as well as on the ground. The bird sings day and night, singing more often on the top of the tree. The characteristic singing of the Red-flanked Bluetail begins very quietly, then goes on to the loud trill 'trilia, trilia' and again quietly ends. Immature males are similar to females, but the breast is brown. The difference is that the males have dark blue upperparts and has narrow whitish supercilium, while females have have only a lightly colored supercilium with not any whites present on it, brown upperparts and a light orangish breast. ^ Voous, Karel H.Orange-red flanks, black bill, blue tail, blue rump, darker wing colors, greyish-white underparts and a white throat are present in both sexes, but the orange-red flanks and a blue tail and rump is slightly more pronounced in males.(1988) The Birds of the Western Palearctic volume 5. ^ Howard, Richard and Alick Moore (1991) The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World 2nd edition ISBN 0-12-356910-9, page 316.^ Inskipp, Tim, Nigel Lindsey and William Duckworth (1996) An Annotated Checklist of the Birds of the Oriental Region ISBN 0-952, page 144.

(2003) The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World 3rd edition ISBN 0-7136-6536-X, page 677 ^ del Hoyo, Josep, Andy Elliot & David Christie (2005) Handbook of the Birds of the World volume 10 ISBN 84-8, pages 754-5.The Ripley Guide ISBN 84-8, volume 2, page 394 (2007) The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World 6th edition ISBN 978-0-8014-4501-9, page 456 ^ Gill, Frank and Minturn Wright (2006) Birds of the World: Recommended English Names ISBN 978-0-7136-7904-5, page 175.^ IOC World Bird List, version 2.5 (2010).London, United Kingdom: Christopher Helm. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. ^ a b Svensson, L., Mullarney, K., & Zetterström, D.^ eBird: Red-flanked Bluetail in California (Dec 2011).Field Guide to the Birds of North America 3rd ed. Report on rare birds in Great Britain in 2008. ^ British Birds Rarities Committee occurrences, 1950-2006.Polytypic includes rufilatus, although split suggested The table below details the treatments adopted by some major works, by publication date (newest first): The species has also been known by a variety of English and scientific names in the ornithological literature. rufilatus split off as a distinct species, Himalayan bluetail T. rufilatus breeding in the Himalaya, it is now increasingly being treated as monotypic, with T. cyanurus breeding in northern Asia and T. In the past generally treated as comprising two subspecies, T. The specific cyanurus is also derived from Greek, the roots being kuanos, 'dark-blue', and oura, 'tail'. The genus name Tarsiger is from Ancient Greek tarsos, 'flat of the foot' and Latin gerere, 'to carry'. The nest is built on or near the ground, with 3–5 eggs which are incubated by the female.

The male sings its melancholy trill from treetops.

In behaviour, it is similar to a common redstart, frequently flicking its tail in the same manner, and regularly flying from a perch to catch insects in the air or on the ground. The adult male additionally has dark blue upperparts, while females and immature males are plain brown above apart from the blue rump and tail, and have a dusky breast. As the name implies, both sexes have a blue tail and rump, and orange-red flanks they also have a white throat and greyish-white underparts, and a small, thin black bill and slender black legs. Description Īt 13–14 cm long and 10–18 g weight, the red-flanked bluetail is similar in size and weight to the common redstart and slightly smaller (particularly with a slimmer build) than the European robin. There have also been a few records in westernmost North America, mostly in western Alaska, but one on San Clemente Island off the southern California coast. The breeding range is slowly expanding westwards through Finland (where up to 500 pairs now breed), and it is a rare but increasing vagrant to western Europe, mainly to Great Britain. It winters mainly in southeastern Asia, in the Indian Subcontinent, the Himalayas, Taiwan, and northern Indochina. It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in mixed coniferous forest with undergrowth in northern Asia and northeastern Europe, from Finland east across Siberia to Kamchatka and south to Japan.

Red flanked bluetail song