The redstart female

The redstart is a visible bird, and therefore it has been natural to attach various predictions to it. According to the Norwegians, a happy new year will come if there are a lot of redheads under Christmas. In Central Europe, on the other hand, redstarts have been believed to cure diseases by absorbing pathogens.

Opposite predictions have also been made: in some parts of Finland, the appearance of redstarts in the yard has meant death, hence the names redfoot as the bird of death and the sparrow. Miserable weather and hail are also thought to be in the offing if a hard weather forecaster or a harbor bird, or redhead, has appeared near the dwellings. There is enough basis in this prediction that deteriorating weather makes birds look for the easiest possible food. It can be found on the outskirts of human settlements, before in the tunk and now on bird boards.

Another, perhaps slightly more indigenous belief claims that the bird got its red breast by carrying water and lingonberries on the cross to suffer Christ. The Latin name for the redstart, Pyrrhula pyrrhula, refers to the red color of the bird.
Read less