Top Ten Birds of Costa Rica: #6 Collared Redstart

 

While toucans, hummingbirds, motmots and the like grab all of the attention, most of the birds that people actually see in Costa Rica, and the rest of the Neotropics, will be from the vast order of Passerines - the perching birds. Of these, there are several dominant groups and families that are unique to the Americas, including tyrant flycatchers, antbirds, ovenbirds, tanagers and New World warblers. The Collared Redstart Myioborus torquatus, also known as the Collared Whitestart (I'll come back to this), belongs to the last of these families. But it is perhaps not a typical warbler.

In the USA, I've found warbler identification challenging - to say the least. Travelling in fall makes matters worse; a lot of species look very similar. And it's not just me, I'm pleased to say - see this handy identification guide from McGill University, for example. I was always aware that many of these birds are seasonal migrants, heading down to the Central and South America in the winter months. But until my visit to Costa Rica in October 2024 I had no idea of the scale of such movements. The Costa Rican rainforests seemed to be teeming with arrivals from the north. Tennessee, Chestnut-sided and Wilson's Warblers seemed to have the biggest numbers. It turns out that over three quarters of Costa Rica's warbler species are North American migrants. Most will stay for the winter, but a few like the Canada Warbler are simply passing through. 

Not so the Collared Redstart, which is one of the much smaller group of Costa Rican resident warblers. Like the Talamanca Hummingbird (previously featured here), it is a range-restricted species that is only found in the mountains of Costa Rica and western Panama. Like the hummingbird it avoids the lower levels, with a minimum elevation of around 1,500 metres, although our first encounter was at higher altitude in the forests of southern Costa Rica's Dota Valley (below). We had come across a mixed flock passing through the trees, one of the most exciting - and frustrating - experiences in Neotropical birdwatching. Suddenly there is activity everywhere, and you don't quite know where to look. There are glimpses of birds moving through the vegetation, and nothing seems to stay still long enough to allow a decent view, let alone a photograph. A Collared Redstart flitted past me at that moment, showing its bright yellow colours nicely in flight. But then it was gone. Fortunately (as you will have guessed from the images in this blog post) we were able to get a better look at another later that day.  

Rainforest - Dota Valley, Costa Rica

The Dota Valley is well-trodden birding territory, but our guide (the indefatigable Pat O'Donnell - website here) knew of a quieter spot nearby. This is the largely unsurfaced road that leaves the Pan-American Highway and winds down a neighbouring valley towards Providencia. The road passes through an area of mature forest in the Parque Nacional Los Quetzales. Another bird is clearly the main attraction here of course - but will it appear in my Top Ten? Wait and see!

Anyway, after a tortilla-heavy stop for lunch from a roadside cafe, we started to look for birds, part-walking and part-driving down through the forest. The road wasn't quite as steep as the signs suggested, though:

Check your brakes!

The time just after lunch can be quiet for birds, and today was no exception. But a few clouds rolled in, and this respite from the strong sunshine prompted some avian activity. Movement in the roadside bushes turned out to be a Lesser Goldfinch, followed (joy of joys) by a Collared Redstart that - this time - was happier to remain in one place, giving great views of its yellow face and neat chestnut cap.

Collared Redstart - Parque Nacional Los Quetzales, Costa Rica

Although it's a gem of bird, the name is misleading. It is no relation of the Old World redstarts, which are in a different family. Anyway, Old Word redstarts have red tails - which is where the name comes from. "Start" comes from the Old English steort, meaning tail or rump. Our bird here has a black tail with white outer feathers. "Whitestart" is therefore more accurate, as can be seen from the above photos, but it still seems a poor way to name such a distinctive bird where the tail colour is one of its less obvious features. So I have stuck with Collared Redstart in this account, as it is the name that most Costa Rican birders, as well as eBird, use.

(I'm assuming that the name arrived through the American Redstart, also a New World warbler, which does have red on its tail. But that species looks quite different to the Collared Redstart - and indeed the Slate-throated Redstart, another New World warbler found in Costa Rica - and occupies a separate genus. So it doesn't quite make sense.)  

At least there is no dispute that it has a collar, seen nicely in my final image: