The birding event that I look forward to most, and I suspect many other birders feel the same way, is the annual Christmas Bird Count. Saturday afternoon found me scouting for the count at one of the many under-birded local habitats, namely the new Arroyo Burro Open Space. I hadn’t gone too far along the trail when a text came through from local birder Libby Patten. She was at Rocky Nook Park and had found a painted redstart, a stunner of a bird that is usually found no closer to us than southeast Arizona. They are found in our county perhaps once every three years.
Should I make a beeline for Rocky Nook or finish my census of the reserve? Dutifully, I chose the latter option, but perhaps with more of a spring in my step than had been there earlier. I arrived at Rocky Nook to find Libby still on-site, and we were soon enjoying terrific views of this little warbler as it pirouetted and darted about after insects in the coast live oaks at the top end of the park. It was lovely enough to be a tree ornament. It is predominantly black with white in the wings and tail, and there is a delicate silvery-white crescent under each eye. The outstanding feature, however, is a red chest that appears fluorescent when the bird moves into the sun. Unlike many warbler species, the sexes are similar, so this one has to remain an “it.” Because of its constant movement, it was a very difficult bird to photograph.
The name redstart is a misnomer. There is a European species, the common redstart, that our bird is named after. Steort, changed to “start,” is a word from Middle English that means “tail,” and the European bird does indeed have a flashy red tail. The painted redstart has a black-and-white tail, so there is a move afoot to change the name to painted whitestart.