The male has a black head with a broad white stripe running above each eye and down the side of the neck.

[3] Although largely resident, some show limited migratory behaviour, particularly altitudinal migration by those breeding at high altitudes moving to lower levels in winter.

[2] Vagrants have reached north to Great Britain (Dinas Head, Pembrokeshire; April 1988[5]), east to Greece,[3] and south to Mauritania.

[7] The English and specific names commemorate Jean Moussier (1795–1850) who was an amateur naturalist and a surgeon in the French Army during the Napoleonic Wars.

It was not included in the study by Ertan (2006),[9] while in the limited sampling by Sangster et al. (2010) it was closest to common redstart.