perching bird

American  

noun

1. any member of the avian order Passeriformes.

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Etymology

Origin of perching bird

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

perching bird

In 2012, evolutionary biologist Catherine Sheard started an ambitious Ph.D. project: measuring the shape of every kind of passerine, or perching bird, in the world.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 16, 2022

It is difficult of definition, but almost any small perching bird may, with more or less certainty, be referred to the Passeres.

From Color Key to North American Birds with bibiographical appendix by Frank M. Chapman

Baltimore, bal′tim-ōr, n. a finch-like perching bird of the starling family, very common in North America, called also Baltimore oriole, Fire-bird, &c.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various

A perching bird of India, of the genus Eurylaimus.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster

"Because, for one reason, his feet have the three toes in front and the one behind, all on the same level; this makes him a perching bird."

From Citizen Bird Scenes from Bird-Life in Plain English for Beginners by Louis Agassiz Fuertes