ornithology

[ awr-nuh-thol-uh-jee ]

noun

1. the branch of zoology that deals with birds.

ornithology

/ ˌɔːnɪˈθɒlədʒɪ; ˌɔːnɪθəˈlɒdʒɪkəl /

noun

1. the study of birds, including their physiology, classification, ecology, and behaviour

ornithology

/ ôr′nə-thŏl′ə-jē /

1. The scientific study of birds.

Derived Forms

• ˌornithoˈlogically, adverb
• ˌorniˈthologist, noun
• ornithological, adjective

Other Words From

• or·ni·tho·log·i·cal [awr-n, uh, -th, uh, -, loj, -i-k, uh, l], orni·tho·logic adjective
• orni·tho·logi·cal·ly adverb
• orni·tholo·gist noun
• unor·ni·tho·logi·cal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ornithology¹

From the New Latin word ornithologia, dating back to 1645–55. See ornitho-, -logy

Example Sentences

They decided to examine bird sightings from across the United States and Canada that volunteers had recorded in eBird, an online database run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

From Popular-Science

If these colors in females were driven by mate choice, then this is “the exact opposite of what you would expect,” says Falk, who did the work while at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Gamboa.

From Science News

Novice birders contributed to a new record for spotting bird species on Global Big Day, an annual bird-watching event run by the eBird program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

From Quartz

I took ornithology in college, did my master’s on birds, and I never got that information.

From Outside Online

A team at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology created the platform in 2002, and it became widely used by birders within a few years.

From Outside Online

We were enthusiasts in our love for ornithology; we found new inspiration in the democracy of our common interests.

From Project Gutenberg

If we could not make occasional swans of our geese in this life, we should be very ill off in matters of ornithology.

From Project Gutenberg

Ornithology was especially interesting, combining as it did observation of birds in their natural haunts and conditions.

From Project Gutenberg

For more than forty years he studied the ornithology of his district without exhausting the subject.

From Project Gutenberg

His leisure was devoted to scientific study, especially the ornithology, ichthyology, and anthropology of the West Indies.

From Project Gutenberg