redstart

noun

red·​start ˈred-ˌstärt 

1

: a small Old World songbird (Phoenicurus phoenicurus of the family Muscicapidae) with the male having a white brow, black throat, and chestnut breast and tail

2

: an American warbler (Setophaga ruticilla of the family Parulidae) with a black and orange male

Examples of redstart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Roger Tory Peterson, who brought bird identification to the masses with his field guides, called the redstart the butterfly of the bird world. — Sheryl Devore, Chicago Tribune, 28 Apr. 2026

And the American redstart — a jetblack little fellow with orange splashes — pretty much stopped breeding here in the early 2000s. — Ari Daniel, NPR, 10 Sep. 2025

These two male common redstarts are having a territorial fight in a meadow orchard. — Cecilia Rodriguez, Forbes.com, 1 May 2025

American redstarts and magnolia warblers reliably appeared together in the researchers’ nets in spring and fall. — Alexa Robles-Gil, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Sep. 2024

More recently, in a study published in Biology Letters, Eikenaar and his colleagues trapped common redstarts, which migrate from Europe down across the Sahara Desert in Africa every year. — Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 17 Apr. 2023

Word History

Etymology

red + obsolete start handle, tail

First Known Use

1553, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for redstart

• apart
• depart
• flowchart
• forepart
• impart
• pushcart
• rampart
• restart
• subpart
• sweetheart
• upstart
• art

Kids Definition

redstart

noun

red·​start ˈred-ˌstärt 

: an American warbler with a black and orange male