Red"start` (-st?rt`), n. [Red + start tail.] (Zoöl.) (a) A small, handsome European singing bird (Ruticilla phœnicurus), allied to the nightingale; -- called also redtail, brantail, fireflirt, firetail. The black redstart is P.tithys. The name is also applied to several other species of Ruticilla amnd allied genera, native of India. (b) An American fly-catching warbler (Setophaga ruticilla). The male is black, with large patches of orange-red on the sides, wings, and tail. The female is olive, with yellow patches.

• Any of various insectivorous ground feeding birds, mainly of the genus Phoenicurus. Many of the species have a red tail.