American Redstart

The American Redstart is one of the most animated and colorful warblers in North America, nicknamed 'the butterfly of the bird world' for its habit of constantly fanning its bright tail and drooping its wings while foraging. Adult males are strikingly patterned in glossy black with bold orange patches on the sides, wings, and tail, and a white belly.

Females and immature males show a similar pattern in olive-gray and yellow rather than black and orange, with yellow patches replacing the male's orange. Young males may take up to two years to acquire full adult black-and-orange plumage, often breeding first in female-like yellow-and-gray plumage. This warbler's flashy tail-fanning display is thought to help startle insects into flight, making them easier to catch.

Key Field Marks

• Adult male: glossy black overall with bold orange patches on the sides, wings, and tail base
• Female/immature: olive-gray upperparts and pale underparts with yellow patches replacing the male's orange
• White belly and undertail coverts
• Constant tail-fanning and wing-drooping while foraging
• Thin, flat-based bill suited to catching insects in flight

Similar Species

No other warbler combines the redstart's black-and-orange (male) or gray-and-yellow (female) pattern with its distinctive habit of fanning the tail. Blackburnian Warbler shows orange on the throat and face rather than the sides and tail, and lacks the redstart's flashy tail display. The combination of colored tail patches plus constant tail-fanning is diagnostic.

Habitat

American Redstarts favor deciduous and mixed second-growth woodlands, forest edges, and riparian thickets with a dense shrub layer, generally avoiding mature closed-canopy forest interior.

Range

This species breeds across much of Canada and the eastern and northern United States, with more limited breeding populations in parts of the West. It winters from Mexico and the Caribbean south through Central America and into northern South America.

Migration

American Redstarts are long-distance Neotropical migrants, traveling well south of the U.S. border for winter and defending individual winter territories, sometimes in habitats quite different from their breeding grounds.

Behavior

Redstarts are highly active and acrobatic, constantly flitting through foliage while fanning their colorful tails and drooping their wings, a display thought to flush hidden insects into view.

Voice

The song is a variable series of high, thin notes, often ending with an emphasized final note, such as 'see-see-see-see-suEE.' The call is a sharp, sweet 'chip.'

Feeding

It catches much of its prey in midair with quick sallying flights, a technique called hawking, while also gleaning insects from foliage; it will also eat some fruit, particularly before migration.

Nesting & Breeding

The female builds a compact, neat cup nest in the upright fork of a sapling or shrub, often near water. She lays 3-5 eggs, and young males may breed in female-like plumage during their first year before molting into full adult black-and-orange plumage.