bird

I

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Any warm-blooded vertebrate with feathers and wings]

Syn. fowl, feathered creature, Avis (Latin), songbird, passerine bird, oscine bird, bird of prey, raptor, shorebird, seabird, wader, wading bird, waterfowl, ratite, cageling, chick, nestling, fledgling, birdie*.

Common birds include: sparrow, starling, robin, bluejay, crow, hawk, meadowlark, cowbird, hummingbird, finch, quail, partridge, pheasant, owl, vulture, buzzard, turkey buzzard, woodpecker, cardinal, oriole, bluebird, kingfisher, canary, parrot, chickadee, swallow, skylark, nightingale, nuthatch, whippoorwill, flycatcher, thrush, catbird, cuckoo, bobolink, titmouse, wren, gull, sandpiper, eagle, falcon, albatross, cormorant, osprey, cedarbird, ovenbird, blackbird, dove, duck, swan, goose, pigeon, brambling, bullfinch, parakeet or parrakeet, chat, creeper, crane, shitepoke, heron, pelican, loon, tern, goshawk, goatsucker, mockingbird, ostrich, emu, kestrel, petrel, auk; see also hawk , owl , sparrow , thrush , woodpecker .

2. [A game bird]

Syn. wildfowl, game, partridge, quail, woodcock, grouse; see also duck , goose 1 , pheasant .

3. [*A person; a mildly derogatory term]

Syn. person, fellow, guy*, coot*, duck*, duffer*.

• eat like a bird,

Syn. diet, starve, restrain one's appetite, pick; see fast .

• for the birds,

Syn. ridiculous, absurd, useless; see absurd , stupid 1 , useless 1 , worthless 1 .

II

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

fowl, feathered friend, Anseriformes, Charadriiformes, Columbiformes, Falconiformes, Galliformes, Passeriformes, Psittaci-formes. ''Dame Nature's minstrels.''—Gavin Douglas. ''The merry minstrels of the morn.''—James Thomson.

WORD FIND

• bare spots on underbelly used to warm eggs: brood spots

• beak that curves or hooks: aquiline

• bird of prey: raptor

• cage/enclosure: aviary

• calls/songs: trill; cheep; chirp; pipe; warble; coo; whistle; caw; chirrup; chip; chatter; chitter; squawk; twitter; mewl; cluck; croak; peep; honk; quack; cackle; trumpet, ululate; sweet, plaintive call; mournful note; high, lisping note; rasping note; cheery, lilting melody; discordant screams of jays; forlorn hooting of an owl; liquid ululation of a loon; shrill fluting; piccolo note; caroling notes; exuberant song; wheedling voice; discordant rasp of a starling

• claw: talon

• collar of hair or feathers: ruff

• crest on fowl: comb

• domination order: pecking order

• earliest known: Archaeopteryx

• eggs, group of: clutch

• eggs, to sit on: brood

• expert on: ornithologist

• eyelike spot in peacock tail: ocellus

• falcons used as hunters, sport: falconry

• feathers, shedding: molting

• fleshy neck component on turkey: wattle

• flying: flitting, darting, soaring, swooping, banking, diving, spiraling, wheeling, wheeling in intricate chandelles, rising on a thermal

• grooming: preening

• group of: flock; bevy (quail), charm (finches), chattering (starlings), colony (gulls), convocation (eagles), covey (grouse), exaltation (larks), fall (woodcock), flight (doves or swallows), gaggle (geese), herd (swans), host (sparrows), murder (crows), murmuration (starlings), muster (peacocks), nye (pheasants), parliament (owls), rookery (sea birds), siege (herons), skein (flying geese), team (ducks)

• migratory route: flyway

• mythical: phoenix, roc

• nest: aerie

• plumage that is soft and fluffy: down

• referring to: avian

• reservation: sanctuary

• second stomach: gizzard, craw, crop

• throat patch: gorget

• wingless: apterous

• young bird: chick, fledgling, nestling

III

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun Slang. Any of various derisive sounds of disapproval: boo, catcall, hiss, hoot. Slang: Bronx cheer, raspberry, razz. See SOUNDS.