American Redstart

  • Scientific Name: Setophaga ruticilla
  • Habitat: Forest
  • Food: Insects
  • Nesting: Trees
  • Conservation Status: Least Concern
American Redstarts in BGSU Collection / Kristin Burnside
Male American Redstart
Male American Redstart / Evan Lipton / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ML28948631).
Female American Redstart / Martina Nordstrand / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ML180018231).

The American Redstart is a medium-sized warbler with a wide, flat bill and a long, expressive tail. Adult males are mostly black with bright orange patches on the sides, wings, and tail. Adult females have yellow patches on the sides, wings, and tail, but have a gray head and an olive back.

American Redstart Song / Luciana Andrade / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ML159954641).

Habitat & Range

American Redstarts breed in moist, deciduous woodlands with abundant shrubs across the majority of the eastern and northern United States and southern Canada. The American Redstart is often situated near water, favoring interior woodland over edges.

Range map provided by Birds of the World.

Food

American Redstarts are insectivores, feeding mostly on leafhoppers, flies, moths, and beetles. In late summer, they also feed on small berries and fruits. They forage between the ground and near the top of the canopy, capturing most of their prey from twigs, branches, and leaves. Uniquely, they fan their tails and droop their wings in a “flash pattern,” that is thought to startle prey out of vegetation.

Male American Redstart with Mayfly / Matt Saunders / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ML373667011).

Nesting

The nest of the American Redstart is most often supported by the main trunk of a tree or shrub and supported by other vertical stems. The nest, which is a tightly woven cup of small fibers, is built solely by the female over a span of 3-7 days, and is comprised of birch bark strips, grasses, animal hairs, feathers, mosses, and wasp nest paper.

Nesting Facts

  • Clutch Size: 1-5 eggs
  • Incubation Period: 10-13 days
  • Nestling Period: 7-13 days
  • Egg Description: white with brownish or reddish splotches
American Redstart Clutch / Aaron Souder / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab or Ornithology (ML241389601).
Female American Redstart in Nest / Anonymous / Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ML340279921).

Citations

Sherry, T. W., R. T. Holmes, P. Pyle, and M. A. Patten (2020). American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (P. G. Rodewald, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.amered.01.