Painted Redstart Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A small songbird, with a small, fine bill, and moderately long wings, fairly heavy-bodied for a warbler, with a rather long tail often held partly open.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Common Yellowthroat, smaller than a White-throated Sparrow.

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 5.1-5.9 in (13-15 cm)
    • Weight: 0.3-0.4 oz (8-11 g)
    • Wingspan: 8.3 in (21 cm)

  © Caleb Strand / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Adult is velvety black overall, with large white wing patch, white outer tail feathers, white crescent under the eyes, and a vivid scarlet belly. Juvenile is similar but gray, not scarlet, below.

• Behavior

  Forages by hopping along branches, turning side to side, and partly opening tail and wings to flush insect prey, which it captures by gleaning, hovering, and hawking. Also forages on trunks and on the ground.
• Habitat

  Shaded pine-oak, oak, and oak-juniper canyons in the mountains of the Southwest, often near streams; similar habitats but also more arid oak woodlands in Mexico and northern Central America.

  © Larry Arbanas / Macaulay Library