American Redstart
Setophaga ruticilla
Adult males are striking and distinctive: mostly glossy black with bright orange flashes on the wings, tail, and sides. Females and young males are duller gray and olive with yellow patches instead of orange. Habitually flicks and fans tail while foraging for insects. Breeds in mature deciduous forests, often near water. Migrants can be found in any wooded habitat. Fairly extensive winter range throughout most of Middle America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Song is extremely variable.
Identification
The American redstart is a smallish warbler. It measures 11 to 14 cm (4.3 to 5.5 in) in total length and has a wingspan of 16 to 23 cm (6.3 to 9.1 in). Its length is boosted by a relatively long tail and it is one of the lightest birds in its family. Weight is considerably less in winter than in summer. Males weigh an average of 8.6 g (0.30 oz) in summer but drop to 7.2 g (0.25 oz) in winter, while females drop even more from an average of 8.7 g (0.31 oz) to an average of 6.9 g (0.24 oz). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 5.5 to 6.9 cm (2.2 to 2.7 in), the tail is 4.9 to 5.8 cm (1.9 to 2.3 in), the bill is 0.7 to 0.9 cm (0.28 to 0.35 in) and the tarsus is 1.5 to 1.9 cm (0.59 to 0.75 in). The breeding males are unmistakable, jet black above apart from large orange-red patches on their wings and tails. Their breast sides are also orange, with the rest of their underparts white. In their other plumages, American redstarts display green in their upperparts, along with black central tails and grey heads. The orange patches of the breeding males are replaced by yellow in the plumages of the females and young birds. Orange and yellow coloration is due to the presence of carotenoids; males possess the red carotenoid canthaxanthin and the yellow carotenoids canary xanthophyll A and B, all of which mix together to produce an orange color, while the females possess only the yellow carotenoids. Recent research indicates that an age and sex effect on observed color attributes of hue, brightness, and saturation exists in American redstarts, with the exception for saturation, which only showed an age effect. Their song is a series of musical see notes. Their call is a soft chip.
Taxonomy
The American redstart was described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Motacilla ruticilla.<p>The genus name Setophaga is from Ancient Greek σής : sēs (genitive σητός : sētós) "moth", and φάγος : phágos "eater".<p>The specific ruticilla is Neo-Latin for "redstart" from Latin rutilus, "red", and the diminutive -cilla.<p>In Ancient Greek the name was φοινίκουρος : phoiníkouros (from φοῖνιξ : phoĩnix- "red" and οὐρά : ourá "tail") "Redstart" refers to the male's red tail, "start" being an old word for tail.
- Scientific name
- Setophaga ruticilla
- Authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Parulidae
- Genus
- Setophaga
Range and habitat
Although perhaps not as common as in the past, the redstart appears to be one of the most stable and abundant species of New World warbler; its numbers exceeded in total by the common yellowthroat, yellow warbler and yellow-rumped warbler, because of much wider natural breeding ranges in those species and perhaps exceeding those in sheer density within appropriate range. Their breeding is in North America, spanning southern Canada and the eastern United States. They are migratory, wintering in Central America, the West Indies, and northern South America, and are very rare vagrants to western Europe. During the breeding season, the redstart inhabits open-canopy, mostly deciduous forests, second growth, and forest edges. It is insectivorous, often sharing its foraging habitats with other warblers, and is found feeding in the mid to lower regions of a tree or shrub. A wide range of habitats are occupied during migration, including many shrubby areas. On its wintering grounds in Central and South America, the redstart may be found in nearly all woody habitats but tends to avoid non-forested agricultural areas. It is often found in shade-grown coffee plantations, which provide native trees and shrubs, as well as coffee trees. Elevations occupied vary by location, with redstarts found at elevations up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in South America, but only 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in Jamaica.
- Breeding range
- NA : w Canada to se Canada and e USA
- Non-breeding range
- MA, West Indies and n SA
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: rising.
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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