guinea fowl

American  

Or guineafowl

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of guinea fowl

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

Example Sentences

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

Comical flocks of guinea fowl scampered back and forth, twittering.

From New York Times • Jan. 6, 2021

Inside was riotously loud, with the cries of chickens, duck, quail, guinea fowl and the tender pigeons known as squab, jostling for space and pecking seed in tall metal cages.

From The Guardian • Jun. 17, 2020

They passed several pigsties, mules nibbling quietly on bits of hay, even some guinea fowl.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray