A small, orange and black bird zipped out and caught a fly then went back to a branch. It didn’t sit still long, dashing from branch to branch. At each stop, it spread its tail and dropped its wings showing an abrupt flash of orange. This is the American Redstart (photo by gailhampshire), another one of the wood warblers that breed in our area.

It is a sparrow-sized bird that migrates here in the spring from South American, Central America and the Caribbean. This bird likes more mature, open, hard-wood forest and survives eating a wide variety of insects it catches as it moves frantically through the trees. The female redstart is not as bright, sporting gray and yellow compared to its brighter mate.

The most distinguishing characteristic of this bird, aside from the male’s bright orange and black color, is its habit of flashing its tail and wing spots. This behavior, which is observed in other types of birds, is believed to be a feeding technique designed to startle prey into moving, thereby making it easier to find and catch.

This little warbler is busy but because of its distinct color and feeding pattern it is easy to identify when you do get a glimpse of it. In addition to flashing its orange patches, it also can be seen zipping out to catch flying insects. This is a behavior more common to flycatchers and not as common for warblers. When you put it all together, this little bird can seem like a frantic, hyperactive youngster as it flashes, dashes and zips in and among the leaves.

With many warblers, the song helps in finding and identifying them. I, however, find the American Redstarts song can be easily confused with other types of warblers. It’s still worth listening, though. It will help you pinpoint the singer.

James Reddoch, of Albany Township and Boston, leads birding events for the Mahoosuc Land Trust. Visit Mahoosuc Land Trust at 162 North Road, Bethel, ME. To contact James, send your emails to info@mahoosuc.org.

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