bowerbird

American  

[bau-er-burd] / ˈbaʊ ərˌbɜrd /

noun

1. any of several oscine birds of the family Ptilonorhynchidae, of Australia, New Guinea, and adjacent islands, the males of which build bowerlike, decorated structures to attract the females.

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bowerbird British  

/ ˈbaʊəˌbɜːd /

noun

1. any of various songbirds of the family Ptilonorhynchidae, of Australia and New Guinea. The males build bower-like display grounds in the breeding season to attract the females

2. informal a person who collects miscellaneous objects

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Etymology

Origin of bowerbird

First recorded in 1840–50; bower ¹ + bird

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bowerbird

Both, for example, highlight the bowerbird, a finicky aesthete whose males woo their mates in elaborate courts of flowers, shells, even bits of plastic.

From New York Times ● Aug. 14, 2020

Like a bowerbird arranging its display for potential mates, he seeks not to best his chesty, chattering rivals, but to persuade the open-minded.

From New York Times ● Sep. 18, 2017

Stunning adaptations such as termite mounds, beaver dams, and bowerbird displays have long been a staple of evolutionary studies.

From Nature ● Oct. 7, 2014

Australia’s peculiar male bowerbird collects and assembles objects into an elaborate display as part of a courtship ritual to attract females.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 22, 2011

In one is a representation of the playing place of the spotted bowerbird.

From Austral English A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia by Edward Ellis Morris

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