perching bird

American  

noun

1. any member of the avian order Passeriformes.

---

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

The species just named, while in its limbs, trunk, and feathers a veritable perching bird, resembles a reptile in its head and tail.

From The Chain of Life in Geological Time A Sketch of the Origin and Succession of Animals and Plants by Dawson, Sir J. William

The Cuckoo-Shrike is not a Pigeon, but is a perching bird; nor is it a Jay, which is a Northern Hemisphere bird, a member of the Crow family.

From An Australian Bird Book A Pocket Book for Field Use by Leach, John Albert

"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 Fuertes, Louis Agassiz

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