American Redstart

The American Redstart is an adorable small relative of the Wood Warblers, also called the New World Warblers. Their genus name, Setophaga, translates to “moth eating” in Ancient Greek. Their specific name, Ruticilla is New Latin for Red Tail, referring to the tail of the male birds. 

About American Redstarts

These birds have an average life expectancy of 5 years, but the oldest Redstart, captured, banded, and re-captured is said to have lived up to 10 years. 

Despite being small, they are easy to recognize because of their flashy red tails and wings. They also have a unique and loud call. 

Due to the expansion of towns and cities, these birds are quite common in the outskirts and in open farmlands where they forage for insects. 

They are vulnerable to terrestrial and aerial predators like chipmunks, flying squirrels, fox snakes, jaegers, blue jays, common ravens who not only hunt them but also are notorious for stealing eggs and nests. 

A decline in their population has been recorded over the last 50 years that show that pesticide poisoning and are prone to collisions with glass towers as they are nocturnal travelers. 

● American Redstart Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● America Redstart Size, Eating behavior, Habitat.
● American Redstart Range and Migration, Nesting

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American Redstart Color Pattern

The males, like in most species of birds are more vibrant than the females. They have mostly black upperparts with bold orange patches. The sides of their breasts, bases of their wing feathers, and the bases of the outer tail feathers are all orangish-red. Their bellies and under-tail coverts are white. They display an olive green in other plumages, black central tails, and greyish heads. 

Young males’ patches are like the females’ until their second Fall, after which their plumages start to become orange. 
The females are a lighter color and have yellow plumages. Both females and young birds sport white eye rings and a pale supercilium. 

This lack of pigment occurs in females because they lack one of the carotenoids that males possess. The combination of the Red canthaxanthin carotenoids and the Yellow canary xanthophyll A and B.  Both sexes have black feet, legs, and bills. The hue and brightness of these pigments differ with age, environment, and sex. The saturation of the pigment. However, the pigment is only dependent on the aging of the bird. 

Description and Identification

The male American Redstarts are quite striking, making them easy to spot. They are a smallish warbler size. Their glossy black coats and red plumages are different from the young and the females, who share yellow plumages and lighter-colored coats. They look stout when they perch on branches and are often catching prey mid-air. 

The males start to show red pigmentation when only after they reach maturity after their second fall. They are the butterflies of the Avian community because they flit from tree to tree showing off their red plumages. 

The females are smaller but have vibrant yellow plumages. Unlike the New World Warbler, the yellow is concentrated in their underparts and wings instead of the whole body.  

These birds have a unique sound that also helps in identifying if there are Redstarts in the area. Males sing vigorously to protect their territory. Their calls come in phrases of pairs. 

America Redstart Size

They range from around 4 to 5.4 inches in length. They are quite petite and weigh between 6 to 9 grams. The average size of these striking birds is 5.24 inches with an average wingspan of 7.76 inches. This allows them to fly up to 3000 ft above ground. The females are smaller than the males. They are slightly bigger than a Sparrow size. 

American Redstart Song 

Their song is sweet and high pitch. The calls are in phrases of 2 to 6. The sound is produced in 5 or 6 high pitch notes.  They make a chip-like sound and become louder and shrill as they sense danger.  At dawn. They have a longer and more unique call that they make by producing “chewy chewy chewy-chew chew chew” like patterns in 1-2 or 2-8 phrases. Their other songs are shorter but follow a similar chewy sound.   

American Redstart Behavior 

These birds are migratory. They move to tropical lowlands during fall. They move at night, making them nocturnal migrators. The American Redstart’s face has added vulnerability as they move closer to human territories like glass towers and wind turbines. 

American Redstarts fly out to forage for food.  They hover over foliage and often catch their prey mid-flight by drooping their wings, fanning the tails, and leaping high in the air. These birds are better at catching flies than Warblers. They use their red wings and tails to stun their prey, allowing them to quickly nab them. 

American Redstarts are influenced by a strong Hierarchy of dominance. This results in segregation in sexual habitat. The males get first to pick on the most nutrition-rich territories. They select several sites in one territory and pick the most suitable nest for themselves.  They defend this territory aggressively, leaving the lower quality options for the females and subordinate males.

These members of the bird community are, like most species, monogamous. Very few males will have more than one or two partners. Studies show the skewed sex ratio of this species is related to unsuccessful mating with immature males. 

In their preferred habitat, they reside in a ratio of 3:2. Here, the ratio is male-dominated. In less preferred habitat, the group in ratios of 3:1 where it is predominantly female dominated. The pairing and mating procedure of American Redstarts are divided into three stages. 

Pair making is the first step where males chase females then enter their territories and perform fluffing displays and bowing displays. While fluffing, they spread the feathers on their necks and backs. Bowing refers to a more grounded movement where the males lower themselves to the ground, spread their tails, and hold their heads vertically. 

After forming pairs almost immediately after being introduced to one another, the females sing and choose a nesting site. The males follow closely to defend themselves and the territory. 

The females are entirely responsible for incubation. After hatching, both parents take shifts by dividing the brood into halves. Parent birds frequent the nests to feed the hatchlings almost 13 times an hour. 

The brighter and more mature males help in parenting. Both sexes actively work to maintain the hygiene and cleanliness of the nest by throwing out fecal matter. Males are mostly proactive in defending and protecting the nest from predators and other birds. They fly towards the rival with stiffened wingbeats, glide, and perch again on the original branch. This is to intimidate their opposition. 

American Redstart Diet

Their diets are similar to that of their Warbler relatives. They are primarily insectivorous and consume large caterpillars, moths, flies, wasps, leafhoppers, beetles, and spiders. 

Additionally, American Redstarts rarely consume berries and seeds except during the fall when insects are scarce. They then, migrate to places where temperatures are slightly more tropical. Redstarts also consume serviceberries, barberries, and magnolia. 

American Redstart Habitat

For breeding, Redstarts prefer open deciduous forests, forest edges, and second-growth woods. They migrate to warmer ranges and edges during winter and fall. American Redstarts are most found flitting around in North America and Southern Canada. 

They winter in Central America, Northern South America, and the Caribbean where they share the habitat with Bay Breasted Cuckoos and other rare animals.  While nesting, they prefer insect-rich, shrubby, and mature forests. 

Coffee plantations have recently become another habitat that is promoted by coffee cultivators as well. They benefit mutually as the birds keep pests away and get to live there away from many predators. A few will choose to nest on trees next to roads in the outskirts of a forest. 

Range and Migration

American Redstarts are night migrators. They fly to tropical lowlands and forests during winters. Mostly from North America to Central and some parts of South America. They move towards the south in the month of August, during the beginning of the fall season. In winters, some are get scattered during their route. You can see these few groups in Southern California, amongst a few other places. 

American Redstart Lifecycle

These members of the bird kingdom lay between 2-5 eggs. The average number of eggs is usually 4.  Sometimes, the nest can be parasitized by common cuckoos who leave their eggs in these nests. 

The eggs are off-white with brown or grey marks. The females are solely responsible for the incubation. The eggs hatch after 11-13 days. These hatchlings are entirely dependent on the parents for survival for the first week.  During this time, the babies are fed by their parents. 

After 9 days, the chicks are ready to leave their nests. The parents divide the brood into halves. Each parent, responsible for their group. The males reach sexual maturity in their second fall, and until then are prone to failure in trying to mate and breed.  

Nesting

The nests are selected by the females in the males’ territories. These nests are usually built between 4 to 70 feet off the ground. Nests are built in an open cup shape. Females pick materials like plant fibers, grass, rootlets, birch bark and decorate them with lichens and feathers.

Occasionally, American Redstarts will reuse nests left behind by other birds. Males with more than one female raise more than one brood. They flit back and forth visiting the nests to protect the offspring and feed them. 

Anatomy of an American Redstart

American Redstarts are stout and rounded when you find them perched and rested. These adorable small birds are however very agile. They have black legs and feet which are strong, allowing them to leap with the support of their tails. This aids in making them proficient Flycatchers.  

Males, like most species of aves are more striking in their appearance than females and juvenile males. Their legs are thin and proportionate to the rest of their body. They have wide wings with beautiful flash markings in yellow and red. Their beaks are small, flat, and black. 

Final Thoughts

These pretty little birds seem to be hyperactive dashing from shrub to shrub. They are small and fast but can be spotted with the help of their red and yellow patches. They reside in deciduous forests and are most spotted with the help of their tails. The fanning motions and colors in the tailfeathers help us recognize them.

The American Redstarts have an explosive song. The high-pitched chip-like sounds come in patterns on 2 or 8 pairs with high notes. Their song at dawn is most distinct. 
 
These birds are a common species in North America and Central America. But research shows that their population has been on a slight decline in the last fifty years. The depletion of open forests has reduced their range for habitat, and hence, are now trying to adapt to coexisting with humans. Being nocturnal migrators, human infrastructure is one of the main reasons for this decline. Apart from accidents with glass skyscrapers and wind turbines, they are also poisoned by pesticides used in fields. Both their food sources insects and plants act as a source that causes them to ingest these harmful chemicals. 

They have a positive effect on humans as they consume a large chunk of pests when they migrate to Coffee plantations in Central and South America.  Another reason for the decrease in their population is breeding with Brown-headed
Cowbirds. This happens because American Redstarts adopt the eggs and often end up mating with the males, decreasing reproductive success. 

Overall, The American Redstarts are smart and agile birds and follow a social hierarchy. They breed in forests and shrubby regions with ample insect population. They can also be found flying in search of food and territory in the outskirts of cities and urban areas, where they have ample area to explore, mate, and feed.

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for IdentifyingAmerican Redstarts

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing American Redstarts are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

American Redstart Iron On Patches

Kids, Youth, and Adults love to collect our Bird Watching Academy & Camp iron on patches. Our bird watching patches help you keep track of the birds you have seen an identified. You can also display the patches on our Bird Watching Academy & Camp banners.

The American Redstart is a great iron on patch to start your collection with. The patches are durable and can be sewn on or ironed on to just about anything.

American Redstart Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the American Redstart. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders ForAmerican Redstarts

There are many types of bird feeders. Bird feeders are a great addition to your backyard. Bird feeders will increase the chances of attracting birds drastically. Both kids and adults will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. There are a wide variety of bird feeders on the market and it is important to find the best fit for you and your backyard.

Bird Houses ForAmerican Redstarts

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.