American Redstart

Setophaga ruticilla

"Male glossy black with bright orange patches on sides, wings, and tail; belly and under tail coverts white." (Jon L. Dunn & Jonathan Alderfer. Field Guide to the Birds of North America, p. 444)

This does not describe the bird pictured here, but Dunn & Alderfer continue:

"Female is gray-olive, white below with yellowish patches. Immature male resembles female, by first spring, lores are usually black, breast has some black spotting; adult male plumage is acquired by second fall."

That is the bird pictured above.

"Common in deciduous forests with understory of small trees, particularly in wet areas. A small longtailed warbler ... Tail pattern unique." (David Allen Sibley. The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Eastern North America, p. 345)

"Rare to uncommon and very local summer resident in the forested areas of east Texas southwest to Fort Bend County. American Redstart is an uncommon to locally common migrant in the eastern half of the state ... Typical migration periods are from mid-April to early June and from mid-August to mid-October."
(Mark W. Lockwood & Brush Freeman. The TOS Handbook of Texas Birds, p. 179)

I could not have identified this bird without the input from members of the TX-ORNITHOLOGY listserve. Six of the eight responders agreed that it is a first-year American Redstart. One responder offered this:

"That's an American Redstart...looks like a second-year male (which are quite female-like) with what appears to be a dusky face and dusky breast belt. He was born last summer. The males in that species take 2 years to acquire the black and orange plumage. They exhibit what's known as Delayed Plumage Maturation (DPM), which means they don't acquire adult plumage towards the end of their first year like so many passerines. There are over 2 dozen species of passerines in North America that exhibit DPM like Blue Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole, Painted Bunting, and your American Redstart."

Thank you all.

Photo taken with a Nikon D300 using a Nikon 400mm f/5.6 manual focus lens.

May 18, 2013.