redbird

American  

[red-burd] / ˈrɛdˌbɜrd /

noun

1. any of various birds having red plumage, especially the northern cardinal.

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Etymology

Origin of redbird

First recorded in 1660–70; red ¹ + bird

Example Sentences

Watching with delight in spring as a male redbird presents his mate with an edible demonstration of his “fitness as a partner,” she comments, “In the avian world, a grub is an engagement ring.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2024

I wanted to roll it in my palm like the head of a small redbird until it sang to me.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 12, 2016

In the pauses of the thrush sounded the cheery whistle of the redbird, the crying of the catbird, the liquid tones of the song sparrow, and the giddy exclamations of the pewee.

From The Voice of the People by Glasgow, Ellen Anderson Gholson

Among our acquaintances was a lame redbird who at one time had been trapped and made a prisoner, confined behind the bars of a wire cell for many weeks and months.

From Dickey Downy The Autobiography of a Bird by Patterson, Virginia Sharpe

In the Southern States, one of the most familiar birds in the orange groves, orchards, and woods of pine and oak, is the summer tanager, another smooth-headed redbird, but without a black feather on him.

From Birds Every Child Should Know by Blanchan, Neltje