redbird

[red-burd]

noun

the cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis.

any of various other birds having red plumage, as the scarlet tanager.

Origin of redbird

First recorded in 1660–70; red¹ + bird

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for redbird

Contemporary Examples of redbird

The interviews were on tape and owned by the production company Redbird Cinema.
The Strange Timing of Sugar Ray Leonard's Sex-Abuse Story
Buzz Bissinger
May 19, 2011

Historical Examples of redbird

The redbird is singing in the tree, his plumage all the brighter for the winter's bleaching.
Watch Yourself Go By
Al. G. Field
You cannot make a wren out of a redbird, even if you are the God of both.
The Jessica Letters: An Editor's Romance
Paul Elmer More
Redbird felt tears stream from her eyes—and freeze at once on her cheeks.
Shaman
Robert Shea
"But it is true, Redbird, you have done nothing," Wolf Paw said more softly.
Shaman
Robert Shea
"I was down in the woods, seeing to our horses," Redbird lied.
Shaman
Robert Shea

Word Origin and History for redbird

mid-13c., a name for sundry red or partly red birds, including the common bullfinch and the scarlet tanager, but in U.S. especially the cardinal, from red (adj.1) + bird (n.).