A lively warbler that hops among tree branches in search of insects, the male American Redstart is coal-black with vivid orange patches on the sides, wings, and tail. True to its Halloween-themed color scheme, the redstart seems to startle its prey out of the foliage by flashing its strikingly patterned tail and wing feathers. Females and immature males have more subdued yellow “flash patterns” on a gray background. These sweet-singing warblers’ nest in open woodlands across much of North America.

American Redstarts feed mostly on insects, including flies, moths, wasps and beetles. In late summer they also eat small berries and fruits.  They are hyperactive, repeatedly dashing through trees and bushes after unseen insects, rapidly spreading and closing their black-and-yellow or black-and-orange tail.
 

The male American Redstart sometimes has two mates at the same time.  He would hold two territories separated by a quarter mile.  The male begins attracting a second female after the first has completed her clutch and is incubating the eggs.  The male shows the female potential nest sites during the early stages of courtship.  She chooses one and builds the nest by herself.  It is a tightly woven cup of small fibers measuring 2-3 inches across and 2-3 high.  The female will lay 1-5 eggs with an incubation period of 10-13 days and a nestling period of 7-13 days.  The chicks at hatching are helpless, with closed eyes, and naked except for downy tufts of feathers.
 

Once the chicks leave the nest, the parents divide up the chicks for feeding duty. Foraging adults may be preyed on by raptors, while eggs and nestlings are vulnerable to climbing mammals, snakes and birds such as Blue Jays, Common Grackles and Cooper’s Hawks.  The American Redstart is common and hence has a low conservation concern.  Like most nocturnal migrant songbirds, they can be killed by colliding with skyscrapers, radio antenna and wind turbines.  The oldest American Redstart was at least 10 years and one month old.