mousebird

[mous-burd]

noun

1. coly.

mousebird

/ ˈmaʊsˌbɜːd /

noun

1. another name for coly

Word History and Origins

Origin of mousebird¹

First recorded in 1815–25; mouse + bird

Example Sentences

The discovery of Tsidiiyazhi abini, an ancient species of mousebird, is a new source of evidence.

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But certain tell-tale characteristics—such as its fourth toe, which it could turn around forward or backward to help it climb or grasp—convinced the team that it was an ancient mousebird.

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Its mousebird descendants—about the size of a sparrow and marked by their soft, grayish or brownish hairlike feathers—still dwell in trees in sub-Saharan Africa today.

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“This little fossil mousebird signals that those groups must have been there—we just need to find them.”

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“Hear that? Those are turacos. And there’s a wood hoopoe. And there’s a gray mousebird; do you see that long tail?”

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