Painted Redstart

About the Painted Redstart

The painted redstart or painted whitestart (Myioborus pictus) is a species of New World warbler found in mountainous areas across inland Central America. They are among the largest warblers, reaching the length of 6 inches (150 mm), tail included. Adult birds have glossy black plumage, with white strips on the wing and a bright red belly. Female and male birds have similar appearance. Unusually for warblers, females are known to be as proficient at singing as their male counterparts.

When he first described the species in 1829, naturalist William Swainson assigned it to the genus Setophaga — the same genus as that of the American redstart — where it remained for nearly a century and a half, though one naturalist placed it in the Old World flycatcher genus Muscicapa during that time. By the mid 1960s, researchers recommended that it be moved to its current genus, Myioborus, based on various similarities with the other whitestarts. The painted redstart is the sister taxon to all the other species in the genus Myioborus.

There are two subspecies, which differ only slightly in appearance: M. p. pictus is found from Arizona and New Mexico in the southern United States to... Wikipedia →