granivorous

American  

[gruh-niv-er-uhs] / grəˈnɪv ər əs /

adjective

1. (of an animal, especially a bird) eating grain and seeds.

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granivorous British  

/ ˈɡrænɪˌvɔː, ɡræˈnɪvərəs /

adjective

1. (of animals) feeding on seeds and grain

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Other Word Forms

• granivore noun

Etymology

Origin of granivorous

First recorded in 1640–50; grani- ( def. ) + -vorous ( def. )

Example Sentences

Thirty-five to forty species of granivorous birds, among which we occasionally find in winter that rare Arctic bird, the Evening Grosbeak.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 43, May, 1861 Creator by Various

The Professorin added in continuation:— "But yet the granivorous birds are no more virtuous than the insectivorous; each kind lives in accordance with its own law."

From Villa Eden: The Country-House on the Rhine by Auerbach, Berthold

All creation, nearly, preys on some other part of creation—except that respectable number that are granivorous, and herbivorous, and graminivorous.'

From A Red Wallflower by Warner, Susan

If Shakespeare had made the house sparrow, or the blackbird, or the bunting, or any of the granivorous, hard-billed birds, the foster-parent of the cuckoo, his natural history would have been at fault.

From The Writings of John Burroughs — Volume 05: Pepacton by Burroughs, John

In fact, there are few of the granivorous animals that may not be brought to be carnivorous.

From A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean in the Years 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 New Edition with Introduction, Notes, and Illustrations by Tyrrell, J. B.