American Redstart

The American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is a medium-sized New World warbler celebrated for its high-energy foraging and brilliant color palette. Known in Spanish-speaking regions as the candelita ("little torch") or mariposita ("little butterfly"), this active songbird flits near-ceaselessly through canopy and underbrush. Its highly contrasting plumage makes it one of the most recognizable warblers in North America during the spring and summer breeding seasons.

Adult male American Redstarts are unmistakable. They feature jet-black hoods, backs, and chests, contrasted sharply with brilliant orange patches on the sides of the breast, wings, and tail bases. Their lower belly and undertail coverts are bright white.

Females and immature males (often referred to colloquially as "yellowstarts") are greyish-green to olive-brown above and white below. They swap the male's stark black for soft grey on the head, and exchange the vibrant orange patches for bright lemon-yellow on the wings, tail, and flanks.

Key identification markers include:

• Tail-fanning: The constant, nervous opening and closing of the tail to flash the yellow or orange patches.
• Wing flicking: Dropping the wings down and outward while perched.
• Pointed bill: A flat, relatively broad bill surrounded by rictal bristles, ideal for catching insects in mid-air.

During the nesting season, the American Redstart prefers moist, second-growth deciduous forests, woodland edges, orchards, and riparian corridors dominated by willow, birch, maple, and alder. They general avoid pure coniferous forests, preferring mixed or broadleaf environments.

This species is a long-distance neotropical migrant. Breeding occurs across much of southern Canada and the eastern and midwestern United States. In the autumn, they travel south to winter in the Caribbean, Central America, and northern South America, where they occupy a wide range of habitats including tropical dry forests, mangroves, shade-grown cacao and coffee plantations, and urban gardens.

Foraging & Diet

American Redstarts are visual, highly active insectivores. They employ a foraging strategy termed "flush-chase": by rapidly fanning their tails and flicking their wings, they startle resting insects, which they then snatch mid-air or off leaves with flycatcher-like aerial maneuvers.

Song & Calls

The song of the American Redstart is a series of high-pitched, thin, hurried sibilant notes, often described as tsee-tsee-tsee-tsitsit-swee, ending on a sharp, accented upward or downward slur. They also emit a dry, metallic chip call note.

Nesting

Nest building is performed entirely by the female. She constructs a tightly woven, neat cup made of bark strips, grasses, plant down, and wasp paper, bound securely with spider silk. The nest is typically placed in a vertical fork of a small deciduous tree or shrub, about 2 to 7 meters off the ground. The female lays 2 to 5 creamy-white eggs marked with fine brown spots.