Painted Redstart
Myioborus pictus
This unmistakable warbler is found in canyons and mountainous areas with oaks and pines. Striking plumage: black with large white wing patch and red belly. Tail is often fanned and flashed while foraging, revealing bold white outer tail feathers. Very active, usually flitting around in the lower to mid-levels of trees. Listen for a musical warble with repeated “chewee” notes. Call is similar to Pine Siskin but less wiry. Primarily a Mexican species, occurring as far south as northern Nicaragua. Breeding range barely extends into the southwest U.S.
Identification
The painted redstart is the largest species of Myioborus, measuring 5.1–5.9 in (13–15 cm) in length, 8.3 inches (21 cm) in wingspan and having a weight of 0.3–0.4 oz (8.5–11.3 g).<p>The sexes are the same in plumage, though males average slightly larger than females. The adult is mostly black, with a bright red lower breast and belly, large white wing patches, white outer tail feathers and white crescents below its eyes. The bill and legs are blackish.<p>The juvenile painted redstart lacks the red belly and glossy black plumage of the adult. It is brownish-gray overall, with a paler belly and undertail coverts, and a pale cream or buff tinge to its wing patches. The young have a deep yellow-orange mouth lining.<p>Painted redstarts are unusual amongst birds, and especially amongst warblers, in that the female is capable of singing just as well as a male, and during spring courtship a pair will often bond by singing together.
Taxonomy
When he first described the species in 1829, naturalist William John Swainson assigned it to the genus Setophaga — the same genus as that of the American redstart — where it remained for nearly a century and a half, though one naturalist placed it in the Old World flycatcher genus Muscicapa during that time. By the mid 1960s, researchers recommended that it be moved to its current genus, Myioborus, based on various similarities with the other whitestarts. The painted redstart is the sister taxon to all the other species in the genus Myioborus.<p>There are two subspecies, which differ only slightly in appearance:
- Scientific name
- Myioborus pictus
- Authority
- (Swainson, 1829)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Parulidae
- Genus
- Myioborus
Range and habitat
Painted redstarts are common in open oak woodlands and canyons at heights between 1,500–2,500 m (4,900–8,200 ft) in Central America and Mexico, ranging as far north as the Madrean sky islands and Mogollon Rim in Arizona and New Mexico and Big Bend National Park in Texas; they are thought to be wholly insectivorous. During the summer and winter, these birds may venture as far south as Nicaragua. In 2010, a painted redstart was found further north in California than had ever been recorded, in Auburn, CA, east of Sacramento. In 2013, one was observed in Berkeley, CA.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Hypsipetes siquijorensis
A medium-sized bird of foothill forest and edge as well as more open wooded areas. Fairly large for a bulbul. Dark brown above with a pale belly and a warm brown chest and throat with pale streaking. Note brown cheek and black crown that can be raised into a spiky crest. Similar to Philippine Bulbul, but larger, with a longer bill, a black crown, and a paler throat and chest. Voice consists of rather unpleasant grating chatters and harsh downslurred squeals.
Pink-throated Brilliant
Heliodoxa gularis
Scarce hummingbird found in cloud forest in the eastern foothills of the Andes in Ecuador, southern Colombia, and northern Peru. Green with a white vent and a small white dot behind eye. Male has a glittering pink throat patch, which is reduced or lacking on female. Small compared to other brilliants, and the only one with a white vent. Found only in remote and relatively undisturbed forest, and rarely encountered.
Rufous-fronted Prinia
Prinia buchanani
Sandy-colored warbler with a long tail. Note white underparts, pale eyebrow, and rufous-tinged forecrown. Social inhabitant of dry open areas with scattered vegetation, such as plains and hillsides. Darts furtively between clusters of cover. Twanging repetitive song is given from atop an exposed perch while tail-wagging.
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