General

American Redstart: Medium-sized, active warbler with black upperparts and hood, distinctive orange-red patches on wings, sides, and long, fanned tail, and white underparts. 1st spring male has olive-gray upperparts, pale gray underparts with yellow-orange patches on sides, black lores, black spotting on breast, and bright yellow wing bar and tail patches. 1st summer male resembles 1st spring male but shows more black on head and more yellow-orange on sides. Female resembles 1st year males but has gray head with white eye-ring, and white underparts with yellow sides.

Range and Habitat

American Redstart: Breeds from southeastern Alaska east to Newfoundland, and south to northern California, Colorado, Oklahoma, northern Louisiana, and South Carolina. Spends winters in southern Texas and southern California and points south into the tropics. Preferred habitats include second-growth woodlands.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"chewy-chewy-chewy, chew-chew-chew"

Interesting Facts

 The American Redstart is referred to as "the butterfly of the bird world" because of its quick fluttering motions and bright orange color on the wings and tail.

 They are known by some in the tropics as the "latrine bird" because of their tendency to look for flies around outhouse and garbage dumps. They are also known there as the "Christmas bird" because they appear in the region around Christmas time.

 They are unrelated to the Old World redstarts, but get their name from the male's red tail, start being an old word for tail.

 A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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