American Redstart

American Redstart, male

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American Redstart, female

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A boldly-patterned warbler of second growth woods, the American Redstart frequently flashes its orange and black wings and tail to flush insect prey from foliage.

Description

• Small songbird.
• Male black with orange patches on sides of chest, in wings, and in tail.
• Female and young males with gray head and back, and yellow instead of orange patches.
• Frequently fans tail and spreads wings.

• Size: 11-13 cm (4-5 in)
• Wingspan: 16-19 cm (6-7 in)
• Weight: 6-9 g (0.21-0.32 ounces)

Sex Differences

Adult male black, orange, and white; female gray, yellow, and white.

Sound

Song variable; series of high notes, some with accented ending note. "Wee-see, wee-see, wee-see." Most characteristic is "tsee, tsee, tsee, tsee, tsway."

Conservation Status

Declines seen in some areas, but still widespread and abundant.

Other Names

Petit du Feu, Paruline flamboyante (French)
Candelita, Pavito migratorio (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• The American Redstart is not particularly closely related to the Painted Redstart and the other redstart warblers of the Neotropics. They all are similarly patterned and forage in similar ways, flashing their tails and wings to startle insect prey. In other parts of the world other unrelated species of birds look and act similarly, such as the fantails of Australia and southeastern Asia.

• A young male American Redstart resembles a female in plumage until its second fall. Males in the gray and yellow yearling plumage will try to hold territories and attract mates, singing vigorously. Some succeed in breeding in this plumage, but most do not breed successfully until they are two years old.

• The male American Redstart occasionally is polygynous, having two mates at the same time. Unlike many other polygynous species of birds that have two females nesting in the same territory, the redstart holds two separate territories up to 500 m (1,640 ft) apart. The male starts to attract a second female after the first has completed her clutch and is incubating the eggs.

Sources used to construct this page:

Sherry, T. W., and R. T. Holmes. 1997. American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla). In The Birds of North America, No. 277 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.