doctor bird
English
editEtymology
editCompound of doctor + bird. The bird, endemic to Jamaica, is so named because its tail resembles a stethoscope.
Pronunciation
edit- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈdɒktɚ ˈbɝd/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈdɒktə(r) ˈbɜː(r)d/
- Hyphenation: doc‧tor‧bird
Noun
editdoctor bird (plural doctor birds)
- Trochilus polytmus; a red-billed streamertail; scissor-tail hummingbird; scissors tail hummingbird (hummingbird)
- The red-billed streamertail, also known as the doctor bird, is a hummingbird which is indigenous to Jamaica.
- 2021, Leone Ross, This One Sky Day, Faber & Faber Limited, page 125:
- He listened to the zip of doctor birds at the window and the peach trees in the wind.
Translations
edithummingbird
|