Amerian Redstart by David Whited

Amerian Redstart

David Whited

Amerian Redstart

Digital photography

Inv: MM-1232

The American Redstart (*Setophaga ruticilla*) is a small, active warbler that breeds across much of the eastern and northern United States and Canada before migrating to Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America for winter; adult males are strikingly patterned in glossy black with bold orange patches on the wings, tail, and sides, while females and immature males show similar patterning in olive-gray and yellow instead of black and orange, and the species has an unmistakable foraging style — constantly fanning its tail and flicking its wings to flush insects from foliage, then darting out to catch them mid-air, earning it the nickname "butterfly of the bird world" among birders.