redstart

American  

[red-stahrt] / ˈrɛdˌstɑrt /

noun

1. any of several small, Old World thrushes, usually with reddish-brown tails, especially Phoenicurus phoenicurus European redstart.

2. any of several fly-catching, New World warblers, especially Setophaga ruticilla American redstart, having black and white plumage with reddish-orange patches.

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redstart British  

/ ˈrɛdˌstɑːt /

noun

1. any European songbird of the genus Phoenicurus , esp P. phoenicurus , in which the male has a black throat, orange-brown tail and breast, and grey back: family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc)

2. any North American warbler of the genus Setophaga , esp S. ruticilla

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Etymology

Origin of redstart

1560–70; red ¹ + obsolete start tail ( Middle English start, stert tail, handle, Old English steort tail; akin to Old High German sterz, Old Norse stertr )

Example Sentences

In fall 2021, they studied common redstart, chaffinch and dunnock on Helgoland, an island off the German coast along the North Sea that is a popular stopover for birds on the move each autumn.

From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2023

I think what we had were a black and white warbler, a black-throated green warbler, a yellow-rumped warbler and an American redstart.

From Washington Post • May 30, 2022

On a recent walk, Mr. DeCandido played a warbler’s cry, piquing the interest of northern cardinals, crows and an American redstart.

From The Wall Street Journal • Aug. 26, 2015

The adult male redstart Photograph: Steve Round/rspb-images.com In September 1942 German forces had just established their suicidal hold over Stalingrad, while Rommel's Afrika Korps had made its last-gasp conquests in the Western Desert.

From The Guardian • Dec. 20, 2012

I have observed the black and white creeping warbler, the Kentucky warbler, the worm-eating warbler, the redstart, and the gnatcatcher, breeding near Rock Creek.

From Wake-Robin by Burroughs, John