guinea fowl

American  

Or guineafowl

noun

guinea fowls plural

1. any of several African, gallinaceous birds of the subfamily Numidinae, especially a common species, Numida meleagris, that has a bony casque on the head and dark gray plumage spotted with white and that is now domesticated and raised for its flesh and eggs.

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guinea fowl British  

noun

1. any gallinaceous bird, esp Numida meleagris, of the family Numididae of Africa and SW Asia, having a dark plumage mottled with white, a naked head and neck, and a heavy rounded body

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• guinea fowls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of guinea fowl

First recorded in 1645–55; see also turkey ( def. )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guinea fowl

Since his youth, he says, he has kept ravens, peacocks, crows, owls, homing pigeons and guinea fowl as pets.

From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2024

We also learn more about guinea fowl than ever imagined, including how the plump species warns the rest of the herd of danger.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2024

Hanja Brandl at the University of Konstanz in Germany is studying guinea fowl in Kenya using small implanted heart-rate loggers combined with solar GPS trackers to observe how stress moves from bird to bird.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 30, 2022

"One of the guinea fowl almost went through the windscreen into Christine's face," he told BBC Sport Africa.

From BBC ● Jan. 7, 2022

The guinea fowl saw her and cackled again.

From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith