Painted Redstart

Myioborus pictus

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family PARULIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A warbler of surpassing beauty, the Painted Redstart is a specialty of the borderlands of the American Southwest. The only member of its genus that regularly occurs in the United States, it is unique among American warblers for its vocalizations and its conspicuous foraging methods.

Cool Facts

• Like other "redstarts" in its genus, the Painted Redstart flashes its white wing patches and outer tail feathers when foraging. These action appear to flush insects that the redstart then pursues and captures.
• Despite its common name, the Painted Redstart is not particularly closely related to the American Redstart. Members of its genus, common in the Neotropics, are sometimes known as "whitestarts" to distinguish them. The name "redstart" was taken from a European thrush that has a bold reddish tail pattern.

Description

• Size: 13-15 cm (5-6 in)
• Wingspan: 21 cm (8 in)
• Weight: 8-11 g (0.28-0.39 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Black above.
• Large white patches on wings.
• Red lower breast and belly.
• White outer tail feathers.

• White crescent under each eye.
• Eyes black.
• Bill black.
• Legs black.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Similar to adult, but belly entirely black, not red.

Similar Species

• Red-faced Warbler has black only on face, bordered by red.
• Slate-throated Redstart, a very rare Mexican stray in the United States, has a similar pattern of dark upperparts and red underparts, but lacks the white wing patch.

Sound

Songs variable, generally consisting of repeated two-syllable phrases followed by one or more single-syllable chirps. Call a loud, low-pitched "cheeyu," widely described as similar to those of Pine Siskins, but quite unlike the calls of any other warblers

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds locally in highlands of Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas, southward through Mexico to northern Central America.

Winter Range

Winters in Mexico and Central America. Also occurs in some lower canyons in mountain ranges of southern Arizona.

Habitat

Riparian and arid woodlands, especially in mountains.

Food

Mostly insects; also some tree sap, as well as sugar water, peanut butter, and suet from feeders in winter.

Behavior

Foraging

Gleans from leaves, trunks, and branches. Also hawks insects in the air. Actively fans its tail and wings to elicit movement by prey. Also turns body back and forth to flush insects.

Reproduction

Nest Type

A cup of coarse grasses and pine needles, located on the ground, on slopes, or rock walls.

Egg Description

White with brown speckles, especially at the larger end.

Clutch Size

3-7 eggs.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with sparse black down.

Conservation Status

The Painted Redstart is considered to be a relatively low conservation priority.

Other Names

Paruline à ailes blanches (French)
Pavito aliblanco, Chipe ala blanca (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Barber, D. R., P. M. Barber, and P. G. Jablonski. 2000. Painted Redstart (Myioborus pictus). In The Birds of North America, No. 528 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.