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.
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.
The oldest recorded Painted Redstart was a male and at least 6 years, 7 months old, when he was recaught and rereleased during banding operations in Arizona.
Warblers
