Tuesday, September 6, 2011

American Redstart Spotted

A mysterious visitor.

In August I started seeing a new bird, very tiny, with bright yellow coloring under the wings. It wasn't the easiest bird to spot. If you didn't look too closely, you could easily overlook it. It's a little smaller than a sparrow, and it seems to hop from branch to branch in our bushes, not exactly in plain sight.

The American Redstart in my yard.

I saw it a few more times, and eventually I was able to scramble for my camera and caught a few pictures. I was able to figure out that what I was seeing was a female American Redstart. Notice the yellow markings on the tail? Apparently this bird flashes its tail as it forages for food, flushing out insects with it's bright markings.

Hello there.

Lately, I've seen two females chirping at each other... rivals? This bird was actually a bit tough to identify using the internet because the male looks so different. Most of the photos that show up when searching this species are of the male. Haven't seen any males yet, but I'll be looking...

Male American Redstart (Not My Photo)