Slate-throated Redstart (Myioborus miniatus)

Slate-throated Redstart
Myioborus miniatus

First Photographed Texas Record. About the 6th U.S. record. The Slate-throated Redstart (Myioborus miniatus) occurs in Mexico within 150 miles of south Texas. The species has seven accepted records in the United States, the first was in 1962 in southern New Mexico and the latest was in June, 2000, in the Davis Mountains of west Texas. There are a several Arizona records as well. The photo at right and below are of a bird found in the Davis Mountains of west Texas on 2 August 1997. These photos were shot against the light and have been cropped significantly to show the bird, which on the original slides is a fairly small image. Still, these photos were sufficient to be accepted as the first photos of the species in Texas and the 6th for the U.S. This bird was discovered by John Karges, Francie Jeffery, Chuck Sexton and me. The photos were taken with a Canon T-90 & FD 400 mm F4.5 lens on Fuji Sensia 200 film from a BushHawk shoulder mount.
This is another shot of the 1997 Texas redstart. See below for a better quality photo of the species in Mexico.
The above photo was taken 2 August 1997 just after the above Slate-throated Redstart was lost from view. Left to right are Francie Jeffery, John Karges, Chuck Sexton & Greg Lasley. Francie put the camera on a rock and set the automatic timer to get this photo. A real fun moment in birding for all of us!
The below photo of a Slate-throated Redstart was taken in June, 1994, near Los Lirios, Coahuila, Mexico with a Canon T-90 & FD 400mm F4.5 lens with a Fresnel flash on Kodachrome 64. Note the small brownish patch on the head which is characteristic of this species. This patch can be seen on the above Texas photos if you look closely. The photo shown here was taken at a location where the species is a fairly common nester, and perhaps the closest population to Texas, about 150 miles south of Laredo.