Golden-fronted Redstart

About the Golden-fronted Redstart

The golden-fronted whitestart, yellow-fronted whitestart, or golden-fronted redstart (Myioborus ornatus) is a species of bird in the family Parulidae, the New World warblers. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela. The white-fronted whitestart was formally described in 1840 with the binomial Setophaga ornata.

The species' further taxonomy is unsettled. Most systems assign it two subspecies, the nominate M. o. ornatus (Boissonneau, 1840) and M. o. chrysops (Salvin, 1878). However, in 2016 BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World (HBW) split them into separate species. Confusingly, HBW calls M. ornatus the "yellow-fronted whitestart" and M. chrysops the "golden-fronted whitestart".

This article follows the majority's one species, two subspecies model. The golden-fronted whitestart is 13 to 13.5 cm (5.1 to 5.3 in) long; the nominate subspecies M. o. ornatus weighs about 11 to 13 g (0.39 to 0.46 oz). The sexes have the same plumage. Adults of the nominate subspecies have a bright yellow forehead and forecrown, a white face, and a blackish rear crown and rear sides of their head with a small white crescent on the ear coverts... Wikipedia →