Slate-throated Whitestart

Overview

The slate-throated whitestart (Myioborus miniatus), also known as the slate-throated redstart, is a small insectivorous bird in the New World warbler family. It is native to humid highland forests across Central and South America.

Identification

• A long-tailed warbler measuring approximately 12 cm in length.
• Features a deep rufous head and dark back with a contrasting bright yellow breast and belly.
• Displays white vent and tail tips, with blackish-gray legs and a black bill.
• Underparts range from yellow to red, particularly in the northernmost part of its range.

Habitat

This species is found disjunctly in humid highland forests, ranging from the upper understory to the mid canopy. Its distribution spans Mexico, Central America, the Andes from western Venezuela to northwestern Argentina, the Venezuelan Coastal Range, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and the tepuis, at elevations between 600 and 2,500 m.

Diet

It is an insectivore that hops and flits through the vegetation while flashing its tail to frighten insects, which it then catches in aerial pursuits. It occasionally gleans insects from tree bark and takes protein corpuscles from Cecropia plants.

Did you know?

In July 2024, a specimen was spotted in the Sigmund Stern Recreation Grove in San Francisco, California, marking the furthest north the species has ever been observed.