We are getting into some migrating birds at just the right time of year, right before the Spring migration! Here we have the American Redstart, the first of our many Warblers. I love what Burgess shares about Warblers wrote through the eyes of Peter the Rabbit:
If there is one family of feathered friends which perplexes Peter Rabbit more than another, it is the Warbler family.
“So many of them come together and they move about so constantly that a fellow doesn’t have a chance to look at one long enough to recognize him,” complained Peter to Jenny Wren one morning when the Old Orchard was fairly alive with little birds no bigger than Jenny Wren herself.
Thornton W. Burgess, The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Living Books Press Edition, p. 199
I have been on a nature walk trying so hard to figure out which little warblers I was watching and Peter is right- they are so lively and energetic- always moving!
Allaboutbirds.org shares that as a foraging trick, “the American Redstart flashes the bright patches in its tail and wings. This seems to startle insect prey and give the birds an opportunity to catch them.” source
Here is our gathering for Zee Zee:
Here you can hear a male giving one of the common calls “see see see oh” Cornell Lab’s American Redstart Call on Youtube
Here is a really helpful American Redstart Identification Video by Lycobirds on Youtube. He does a great job describing the identification markers to distinguish females from immature males and some other Warblers.
Until next time, keep birding <3 Kate
