Collared Whitestart

Overview

The collared whitestart, also known as the collared redstart, is a species of bird in the family Parulidae, the New World warblers. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama.

Identification

• Size: About 12 to 13.5 cm long and weighs about 10 to 11 g.
• Plumage: Adults have a rufous central crown with a black border extending to the nape, a yellow head and throat, slate gray upperparts, and a slate gray band across the upper breast. The tail is blackish with much white on the outer two pairs of feathers.
• Song: Described as "warbles, trills, and slurred whistles" that are long-continued, full, and mellow, or as a soft, slightly musical "tsit-tsit-tsee". Calls include a sharp "pit" or "tzip".

Habitat

Found intermittently through Costa Rica on the Cordillera de Tilarán, Cordillera Central, and Cordillera de Talamanca, continuing as far as Veraguas Province in western Panama. It primarily inhabits the edges and gaps of humid montane forest, both primary and secondary, and also occurs in nearby brushy ravines and pastures. In Costa Rica, it ranges in elevation from 1,500 m to tree line at about 3,500 m.

Diet

The diet is known to be mostly arthropods, though it has not been extensively studied. It forages by gleaning and with sallies in mid-air, mostly from the forest's mid-level canopy but also at all levels including near the ground. While foraging, it flicks its outer tail feathers to flush prey, and it also attends army ant swarms and follows cattle or people to capture fleeing prey.

Did you know?

While foraging, the bird flicks its outer tail feathers, apparently to flush (or "start") prey that it then pursues.