Cooperative Living May 2019 - 14

FeatheredFriends | Story and artwork by Carl " Spike " Knuth, Contributing Columnist
American Redstart
I
had stopped at the Humpback
Rocks Visitor Center on the Blue
Ridge Parkway just south of
Waynesboro. It was a warm, sunny day
in May and I stopped to take a break
from driving and get a cup of coffee.
Many travelers were doing the same
thing, so there was a lot of activity
with people coming and going. I sat
outside for a while and then noticed
there was also a lot of activity
overhead in the trees. A good number
of small birds, high in the trees,
flitted about actively and noisily,
oblivious to all the human activity.
At first I thought they were just
house sparrows, which commonly
take up residence around
restaurants and stores, scavenging
on tidbits of discarded food. But
these birds were high in the trees,
singing and calling as they foraged
for insects. I got my binoculars out
of my vehicle to get a better look
and realized it was a group of
American redstarts.
Beginning in late April and into
May, a colorful procession of
warblers of all kinds migrates
through this area. The redstart is
one of them as it makes its way to
points north, although a few of
them may take up housekeeping in
Virginia. Normally, late migrants
are difficult to see because of the
thick leaf growth of the upper
canopy of forests. However, this
day was early enough that the
leaves were just forming, so I was
able to identify the birds.
The name redstart is a corruption
of " redstert, " meaning red tail. Its
Greek name is setophaga, meaning
insect eater, while its Latin name is
ruticilla or red tail. Latinos may
know it as candelita, meaning little
12 | Cooperative Living | May 2019
The name redstart is a corruption
of 'redstert,' meaning red tail.
candle or torch. Some of its other
names include redstart warbler,
redstart flycatcher and fire tail.
The male redstart has patches of
reddish-orange on its tail and is
basically black with a white belly and
patches of reddish-orange on the sides
of its breast and on its wings. The
female is attractive in her own right,
being a soft gray with yellow and white
markings instead of the bright reddishorange.
Young-of-the-year males will
resemble females and will acquire
adult plumage by their second year.
Measuring about 5 ¾ inches, these
birds are bundles of energy typical of
all warblers, moving from branch to
branch, often flying out to capture a
flying insect flycatcher-like. Redstarts
have the habit of constantly flicking
and drooping their wings, and
fanning their tails. Like other insect
eaters, they have hair-like feathers or
bristles around the bill, which helps
to trap insects even if they slightly
misjudge their attempt to grab one.
Sometimes they will move along
large branches or even hang on a
trunk. Their food consists of many
insect types and their larvae ―
especially flying insects like beetles,
caterpillars, flies, bees and wasps ―
and they will also feed on small
berries. The redstart's song is a series
of up to seven buzzy notes often
described as " teetsa-teetsa-teetsatzirr. "
Their call is a slurred " chip "
or " tsip. " They sing almost
constantly while searching for food.
Redstarts breed in the Piedmont
and mountains west, all the way to
the Great Plains, south to the Gulf
and north to Alaska, and into much
of Canada from British Columbia
and the Yukon east to Labrador and
Newfoundland. The late northern
breeders pair up quickly once they
reach their breeding grounds. They
show a preference for nesting in
low-hanging branches of shrubs,
trees or in vines.
A compact, cup-shaped nest is
built in a fork or crotch of a tree or
anchored to a vine. Plant fibers,
bark strips, grasses, mosses,
feathers and spiderwebs are used in
construction and lined with finer
grasses and fur or hair. Usually the
nest is built as low as 15 feet off the
ground but sometimes as high as 80
feet, according to studies. The hen
lays four or five eggs that are
basically white to greenish- or
grayish-white, speckled and spotted
with reddish-brown or purple.
Incubating is done by the female
and eggs hatch in about 12 days.
The young are fed by both parents,
and after another nine to 12 days
they fledge.
This species is unaffected and is
even helped by a certain amount of
deforestation. They favor the edge
cover along woodlands, around
clearings and second-growth
habitats created by burn-offs,
daylighting and other thinning
activities. They like mixed
deciduous-coniferous forests with
abundant understory, as well as
swampy bottomlands. Most
northern and Appalachian regions
have suitable habitat that results in
stable populations.
Migrations begin as early as late
July or early August, but by the last
half of September, redstarts will
head back south, migrating to
Central Mexico, Central America,
northern South America, Florida,
southeast California, Baja California
and the West Indies. 
co-opliving.com
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living May 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cooperative Living May 2019
