American Redstart

Overview

American Redstart: Medium, active warbler with black upperparts and hood, distinctive orange-red patches on wings, sides, and long, fanned tail, and white underparts. Bill, legs, and feet are black. It frequently flashes its colorful wings and tail to flush insects from foliage.

Range and Habitat

American Redstart: Breeds from southeastern Alaska east to Newfoundland, and south to northern California, Colorado, Oklahoma, northern Louisiana, and South Carolina. Spends winters in southern Texas and southern California and points south into the tropics. Preferred habitats include second-growth woodlands.

INTERESTING FACTS

The American Redstart is referred to as "the butterfly of the bird world" because of its quick fluttering motions and bright orange color on the wings and tail.
They are known by some in the tropics as the "latrine bird" because of their tendency to look for flies around outhouse and garbage dumps. They are also known there as the "Christmas bird" because they appear in the region around Christmas time.
They are unrelated to the Old World redstarts, but get their name from the male's red tail, start being an old word for tail.
A group of warblers has many collective nouns, including a "bouquet", "confusion", "fall", and "wrench" of warblers.

The American Redstart can be found in many locales around the world. Just a few of the country which this bird can be found in include Costa Rica, Haiti, El Salvador, Cuba and Chile. The American Redstart has been found in other countries, including France, United Kingdom and Portugal as well. The range of this bird is nearly 7 million square kilometers. The population of the American Redstart around the world is thought to be about 25 million. Due to the extensive population of this species of bird, it has received an evaluation rating of Least Concern.