Bird

American Redstart

Setophaga ruticilla

A summer resident that nests in North Carolina. Found in all 100 counties, across 17 habitats.

Here: Summer and on migration
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 17

Male American Redstart, whole bird — **Male**. no rights reserved. CC0. iNaturalist photo 618581507. Source-provided large resize; no crop or image edits.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: Summer and on migration
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 100 counties
Habitats: 17
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in North Carolina 17

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 17

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large FloodplainNamed place / source context. Shown: Congaree Swamp National Monument floodplain forest, South Carolina; representative illustration, no exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.fallen (uprooted) tree, John Dawson, by1988. Public domain. Source record.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland SystemsRegional / representative. Shown: Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Georgia; representative pond ecosystem, a neighboring state.Georgia pond and emergent wetland, Robert 'Bob' Hynes, 1997. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpointCove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianFrederic Edwin Church, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina (1865-70): a boulder-strewn mountain river under autumn-coloured ridges. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. North Carolina mountains (Frederic Edwin Church, oil sketch 1865-70; Cooper Hewitt)*Drawing, Autumn Landscape in North Carolina, 1865–70*, Frederic Edwin Church, 1865-1870. Public domain. Source record.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested WetlandNamed place / source context. Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretationView, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

SummerWinter

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

SummerWinterSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

SummerWinterDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

SummerWinterSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

SummerWinterSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest

Northern hardwood forests

High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.

Summer

Pocosins and bay forests

Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

SummerWinterAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

SummerWinterDeciduous Plantation; Managed Tree Plantation

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

SummerCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Other habitats in its models (59)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in North Carolina. Those recorded in North Carolina first, the rest by region.

Elsewhere in the South (37)

East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Winter, only within 250 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Summer and winter.
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Winter, only within 250 m of water.
Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Summer.
Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Summer.
Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Summer and winter.
Red River Large Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
South Florida Bayhead Swamp Winter.
South Florida Cypress Dome Winter.
South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Winter.
South Florida Freshwater Slough and Gator Hole Winter.
South Florida Hardwood Hammock Winter.
South Florida Mangrove Swamp Winter.
South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Summer and winter.
Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Summer and winter.
Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer.
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter.

Northeast (4)

Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Summer and winter.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.
Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Summer and winter.

Midwest (1)

North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.

Land cover and other classes (17)

Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Summer and winter.
Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Winter, only within 250 m of water.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Herbaceous Modifier Summer and winter.
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.
Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Summer and winter.
Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Summer and winter.
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Summer and winter.
Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Summer and winter.
Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter.
Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Summer and winter.

All habitats

Seasons in North Carolina

Migratory: does not nest here, in 11 of 100 counties.
Summer: nests here, in all 100 counties.

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in North Carolina, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

American Redstart uses many habitats in North Carolina; these are its 3 most characteristic.