Phoenicurus

Phoenicurus is a genus of eleven species of birds in the family Muscicapidae, native to Europe, Asia and Africa. Along with three other closely related genera, they are named redstarts from their orange-red tails ('start' is an old name for a tail). They are small insectivores, the males mostly brightly coloured in various combinations of red, blue, white, and black, the females light brown with a red tail. Recent genetic studies have shown that the genus is not monophyletic, but may be made so by the inclusion within it of two of the other redstart genera Chaimarrornis and Rhyacornis; this conclusion is yet to be taken up by the International Ornithological Congress.