In the winter a black redstart roosts in the verandah of our Greek house. The curious thing about this is that it started 15 years ago, almost as soon as we had built the house, and every winter since there has been a black redstart roosting in exactly the same spot, every night, every winter. It's on a very slightly projecting bit of the stone wall, and to me looks no more inviting or roostable than lots of other bits of the stone wall - but always, the bird is there in exactly the same spot.
I think the odds against the same bird living so long for all those years are astronomically high. So is there perhaps some hereditary quirk that leads successive generations to seek out exactly the same roosting spot? I suppose that's quite possible, given that roosting behaviour in black redstarts is so disciplined. They never betray their position (to a predatory snake, say) by leaving droppings - unlike the roosting wrens and robins which so mess up our porch back in England. And they don't flutter about if disturbed. When I snapped our current visitor a couple of nights ago with my cellphone, as you can see from the photo below he - and it always has been a he - just sat tight even though my noisy progress (not to mention the flash) woke him up with a start.
They are here down by the coast only in winter. In the spring they all move up to the mountains.
