• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Local Navigation
  • Skip to Search
  • Skip to Sitemap
  • Skip to Footer
Help develop a Bird ID tool!

American Redstart

Setophaga ruticilla ORDER: PASSERIFORMES FAMILY: PARULIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

A boldly patterned warbler of second growth woods, the American Redstart frequently flashes its orange and black wings and tail to flush insect prey from foliage.

Join the Cornell Lab
Funky Nests Challenge

Appearance

Warblers
Warblers
Typical Voice

Adult Description

  • Small songbird.
  • Male black with orange patches on sides of chest, in wings, and in tail.
  • Female and young males with gray head and back, and yellow instead of orange patches.
  • Frequently fans tail and spreads wings.

Male Description

Adult male with black hood, back, wings, tail, and chest. Orange on sides of breast. Orange patches in wings and sides of base of tail. Belly white.

Female Description

Light gray head. Gray to light green back. Whitish below. Yellow patches on side of breast. Yellow patch in wing. Yellow base of outer tail feathers. Faint, broken white eyering. Black legs.

Immature Description

Immature like adult female. Immature male has darker tail and may have irregular patches of black on head, breast, or back.

Range Map Help

American Redstart Range Map
View dynamic map of eBird sightings

Field MarksHelp

Similar Species

Similar Species

  • Blackburnian Warbler has orange face and throat, not in wings and tail.
  • Magnolia Warbler shows inverted T-shaped patch in tail, but the patch is white and the chest should be yellow with dark markings.