What is "whitestart"

The whitestarts are New World warblers in the genus Myioborus. The English name refers to the white outer tail feathers which are a prominent feature of the members of this genus (“start” is an archaic word for “tail”). Confusingly, they are sometimes named as “redstarts”, and the use of these less accurate names is still widespread in Central and North America, while whitestart has gained wider use in South America and is the name recommended by the IOC.

The stronghold of the whitestarts is northern South America, although a few species range along the Andes as far south as north-western Argentina, while others range north through Central America and as far north as the United States. Most species are restricted to mountain forest and woodland. The ancestral Myioborus warblers, together with those in the genus Basileuterus seem to have colonised South America early, perhaps before it was linked to the northern continent, and these two genera provide most of the resident warbler species of that region.