quelea
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of quelea
1925–30; < New Latin: genus name (1850; earlier as a species name), perhaps alteration of Medieval Latin qualea quail
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In 2019, the Kenyan government is thought to have killed eight million quelea which had invaded the Mwea Irrigation Scheme, the country's largest rice-growing project.
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2023
The professor wants more traditional, environmentally friendly methods - such as scaring or trapping and eating the birds - to be employed instead to contain the quelea.
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2023
The latest quelea invasion in Kisumu, amounting to some 10 million birds, has already decimated 300 acres of rice fields.
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2023
He points the finger at land-use changes as "intensive farming and settlement means that we are losing space for natural vegetation to grow. The quelea species are adapting to the current land use".
From BBC • Feb. 12, 2023
The boys killed several quelea birds, which was all right.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
