The Common Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) is readily identifiable by their bright orange-red tail. The genus and species name phoenicurus is from the Ancient Greek, phoinix, meaning "red", and -ouros -"tailed". Breeding males look smart, with slate grey upper parts, black faces and wings and an orange rump and chest. Females and young are duller, mostly brown, but still with an orange-red tail that is often quivered. This distinctive tail colour is from where redstarts get their names ("start" is an old word for "tail").

The species has rarely been recorded breeding on the Isle of Man, although it still occurs as a spring and autumn passage migrant, typically arriving from the third week of April and departing by late September. In the earlier years of the Calf of Man Bird Observatory the species was much more abundant than it is now, a sad reflection of the 55% decline in breeding numbers seen in England during the last 25 years. Redstarts are typically found in open mature birch and oak woodland, preferring to nest on the edge of woodland clearings. In Britain it occurs primarily in upland areas less affected by agricultural intensification, but is also found commonly in lowland areas, further east in Europe. Owing to this unfavourable conservation status and its declining breeding numbers across Europe, the species is listed as of Amber concern.

Numbers of passage Redstarts moving through the Calf of Man have declined considerably in recent times and with each passing year, this once ‘common’ migrant, is becoming more notable by its absence.