American Redstart (Crum Woods Biodiversity Guide)

American Redstart

Setophaga ruticilla

Summary ⁴

The American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) is a New World warbler. It is unrelated to the Old World redstarts. It derives its name from the male's red tail, start being an old word for tail.

Setophaga ruticilla ⁵

A medium-sized (5 inches) wood warbler, the male American Redstart is most easily identified by its black body, white belly, and conspicuous orange patches on the wings, flanks, and tail. Female American Redstarts are olive-green above and pale below with yellow on the wings, flanks, and tail. In particular, this species’ tail sets it apart from all other North American wood warblers as no other species has such large, brightly-colored tail patches. The American Redstart breeds across southern Canada and much of the United States. While this species is fairly widespread in the northeast and interior south, it is more local elsewhere, and is almost entirely absent as a breeding bird in the desert southwest. Most American Redstarts spend the winter from northern Mexico and the Bahamas south to Brazil, although a few winter in coastal California, along the southern Colorado River, and in south Florida. American Redstarts breed in a number of deciduous forest habitats, particularly those near water. In winter, this species may be found a number of shrubby habitats, such as mangroves, thickets, and tropical forests with dense undergrowth. American Redstarts primarily eat small invertebrates, including insects and spiders. In appropriate habitat, American Redstarts may be observed foraging for food in the forest canopy, where their habit of frequently flashing their bright tails makes them more conspicuous than they might otherwise be. Birdwatchers may also listen for this species’ song, a high “tsee” repeated three or four times in quick succession. American Redstarts are primarily active during the day, but, like many migratory songbirds, this species migrates at night.

Habitat and ecology ⁶

Systems

Terrestrial

Conservation status ⁷

Setophaga ruticilla is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) an account of its wide geographic range and relatively stable population size. Recent population data however, has shown this species to be in slight decline and numbers should be monitored closely in the future. Like many declining Neotropical migrants, this species likely suffers from habitat loss on both the wintering and breeding grounds. The main causes for habitat loss is logging for human conversion of land to urban or residential areas. Setophaga ruticilla also prefers shrubby, early-successional habitats which naturally age and progress to mature forests which are less suitable. This species also suffers significant fatalities from impacts with man-made structures during night migration. Over four fall migrations, two towers in Florida accounted for over 1,600 Setophaga ruticilla deaths. Setophaga ruticilla is also a common host for brown-headed cowbirds which decrease reproductive success. Currently, there are few conservation efforts being made for this species, as it is still of least concern. In general, efforts are being made to create sustainable logging practices that support the creation of early-successional habitat. Sustainable farming practices, such as shade-grown coffee, are becoming more prevalent on Central and South American countries that strike a balance between agriculture and providing habitat for songbirds. Many local Audubon chapters are promoting "lights out" campaigns that work with businesses to turn lights off in large skyscrapers during peak migration season, which reduces migrating bird collisions and fatalities.

US Migratory Bird Act: protected

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

State of Michigan List: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

Iucn red list assessment ⁸

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2012

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History

Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Least Concern (LC)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)
Lower Risk/least concern (LR/lc)

Sources and Credits

(c) Derek Bakken, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/43964931@N00/378017378
(c) Dan Pancamo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1227/5141585011_54f990bf4b.jpg
(c) Jerry Oldenettel, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2692/4415256892_11da82e7a8.jpg
Adapted by Amanda Carrillo-Perez from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setophaga_ruticilla
(c) Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34818237
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34723400
(c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/31422402
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34723398