AMERICAN REDSTART GALLERY
(Setophaga ruticilla)

eBird offers the following description of the American Redstart:  Adult males are black with bright orange wings, tail, and sides. Much smaller and more active than other black-and-orange birds like orioles. Females and immature males have gray head, olive back, and yellow patches instead of orange. This warbler forages in trees and bushes, habitually flicking its tail and wings to scare up insects. Breeds in deciduous forests (mature and secondary growth). Winters in Central and South America.

I saw my first American Redstart at Sabine Woods Sanctuary on April 27, 2020.  The bird I saw that day was a female, without a trace of red!  A little over a week later, on May 8, 2020, I was at Warbler Woods Sanctuary in Cibilo and I saw a male Redstart at Scout Pond.  The bird didn’t stick around long, but I was fortunate to get a passable photo.  I hope to see more of this beautiful species in the future, but, until then, we will have to make do with the two photos below.  Enjoy!

With the help of eBird and the Merlin App, I determined this bird to be a female American Redstart. Sabine Woods, April 27, 2020.
The American Redstart I saw at Scout Pond. Warbler Woods, May 8, 2020.

On May 14, 2022 I went for a bike ride (11 miles) at Crescent Bend Nature Park in Cibolo, Texas.  After my bike ride I went at sat at the open blind for about an hour and a half.  For about thirty minutes, a male American Redstart was playing hide and seek high in the canopy, never coming to the water feature.  I only managed two decent shots that morning…here they are!

MALE AMERICAN REDSTART AT THE OPEN BLIND IN CRESCENT BEND NATURE PARK, MAY 14, 2022.
THE ONLY OTHER DECENT SHOT OF THE AMERICAN REDSTART I WATCHED AT CRESCENT BEND ON MAY 14, 2022.


Some “Cool Facts” About The American Redstart from All About Birds…

  • Like the Painted Redstart and other “redstarts” of the Neotropics, the American Redstart flashes the bright patches in its tail and wings. This seems to startle insect prey and give the birds an opportunity to catch them. Though these birds share a common name, they are not closely related to each other. In fact, there are other unrelated birds around the world—such as the fantails of Australia and southeastern Asia, and other redstarts of Europe—that share the same foraging tricks.
  • Young male American Redstarts have gray-and-yellow plumage, like females, until their second fall. Yearling males sing vigorously in the attempt to hold territories and attract mates. Some succeed, but most do not breed successfully until the following year when they develop black-and-orange breeding plumage.
  • The male American Redstart sometimes has two mates at the same time. While many other polygamous bird species involve two females nesting in the same territory, the redstart holds two separate territories that can be separated by a quarter-mile. The male begins attracting a second female after the first has completed her clutch and is incubating the eggs.
  • The oldest American Redstart was over 10 years old, when he was recaptured and rereleased during a banding operation in Ontario.