Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus)

OTHER NAMES: Orange-flanked Bush-robin
Latin Etymology: Tarsiger ("flat of foot, carry") cyanurus ("blue-tailed") 

First Winter male Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus) at Gressenhall, Norfolk - February 2026

Featured Subspecies: N/A
Weight: 10-18g/kg  /  Length: 13-14cm  /  Wingspan: 21-24.5cm
NO UK STATUS / IUCN Red List: Least Concern

A species whose breeding range largely comprises the Russian Far East, along with Northern Japan, Mongolia, and probably more pertinent to this species in pockets of Finland and Sweden. They Winter in South East Asia, particularly Southern China.  The adult male has a striking deep blue head and wings, while the female and first Winter male have a colour scheme resembling more a faded eurasian robin with a blue tail. Formely consided to have two subspecies, the second has now been split into the Himalayan Bluetail.
 
Related Species: 
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Muscicapidae
Genus: Tarsiger
SUBSPECIES: none - monotypic 

- Sighting Locations -

UNITED KINGDOM - A rare but increasingly regular vagrant

 - One vagrant bird at Gressenhall, Norfolk in February 2026

Further Notes: BirdForum Opus, IUCN Red List, RSPB, Wikipedia, Xeno-canto