Bird
American Redstart
Setophaga ruticilla
A summer resident that nests in Virginia. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 14 habitats.
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 14

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- Summer
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 14
- Habitat models
- Summer, Winter
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 14
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.




Streams, rivers and their banks


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.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
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.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.
Dense evergreen shrub wetlands and bay forests on wet, acid peat of the Coastal Plain.
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.
Other habitats in its models (56)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (37)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter.
- 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.
- 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.
Midwest (1)
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Summer.
Land cover and other classes (18)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Summer and winter.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Summer and winter.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Summer.
- 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.
Seasons in Virginia
- Summer: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Virginia, 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.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 86
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
Plants 381
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium connatum
- Coville's PhaceliaPhacelia covillei
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 68
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
Plants 230
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Eastern Winged SumacRhus copallinum var. latifolia
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsum
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Delicate Rabbit-tobaccoPseudognaphalium micradenium
Moist forests
Birds 51
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Chuck-will's-widowCaprimulgus carolinensis
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
Plants 363
- Gorge GoldenrodSolidago faucibus
- Mountain HollyIlex montana
- Smooth Blue AsterSymphyotrichum laeve
- Appalachian SnakerootAgeratina roanensis
- Sweet Scented Joe Pye WeedEutrochium purpureum var. purpureum
- Common Sweet White VioletViola incognita
- Fewflower Tick-trefoilHylodesmum pauciflorum
- Bigleaf MagnoliaMagnolia macrophylla
- Umbrella MagnoliaMagnolia tripetala
- Smooth Carrion-flowerSmilax herbacea
- Pointedleaf Tick-trefoilHylodesmum glutinosum
- Blue Ridge Hedge-nettleStachys subcordata
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP winter habitat model for American Redstart Elevation up to 1,200 m
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)























































