American Redstart
Setophaga ruticilla
Aves › Passeriformes › Parulidae › Setophaga
Conservation status: least_concern
The American redstart is a New World warbler. It is only distantly related to the Old World (common) redstart, with both belonging to the order Passeriformes.
How To Identify
A small warbler measuring about 5-6 inches long. Males exhibit a grayish back and yellowish chest accented with distinctive reddish-orange patches.
Habitat
American Redstarts breed in deciduous and mixed forests across eastern and central North America, preferring young to mature woodlands with dense understory vegetation.
Behaviour
Redstarts are exceptionally active and acrobatic foragers, constantly fluttering their distinctive fanned tails to flush insects from foliage—a hunting technique that also displays their bright plumage.
Native Range
The American redstart's breeding is in North America, spanning southern Canada and the eastern United States.
Did You Know?
Male American Redstarts are strikingly black and orange, while females are olive and yellow—so different that early ornithologists thought they were separate species. This dramatic sexual dimorphism makes them one of North America's most visually distinctive warblers.
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