manakin

American  

[man-uh-kin] / ˈmæn ə kɪn /

noun

1. any of several small, songless passerine birds of the family Pipridae, of the warmer parts of the Americas, usually having brilliantly colored plumage.

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manakin British  

/ ˈmænəkɪn /

noun

1. any small South American passerine bird of the family Pipridae, having a colourful plumage, short bill, and elaborate courtship behaviour

2. a variant of manikin

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Etymology

Origin of manakin

Variant of manikin

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

manakin

Shortly after dawn, biologist Jorge Luis Mendoza Silva gently untangled a brilliant red, yellow and orange band-tailed manakin bird from a fine-mesh net.

From Reuters ● Aug. 5, 2023

It was a male striolated manakin, with a little green puff of a body and a proud red crest.

From New York Times ● Aug. 31, 2021

At the time, Prum had not fully developed his evolutionary theory of beauty, but he immediately suspected that the club-winged manakin was emblematic of nature’s capacity for pushing creatures to aesthetic extremes.

From New York Times ● Jan. 9, 2019

In order to make sounds, the wing bones of the male manakin have been transformed into a structure serving both flight, as in all birds, but also attracting a mate—to sing a song.

From National Geographic ● Jun. 18, 2017

When I encounter one of these people some fine day in a hotel, I act like the birds, who see a manakin in a field.

From The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Vol. 1 Boule de Suif and Other Stories by Guy de Maupassant

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