water bird

American  

noun

1. an aquatic bird; a swimming or wading bird.

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water bird British  

noun

1. any aquatic bird, including the wading and swimming birds

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Etymology

Origin of water bird

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

water bird

Then, like winged Door Dash, Shadow arrived with a water bird called a coot.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2026

So he went all-out in a humorous campaign for his favored bird, the pūteketeke, a water bird, on his HBO show “Last Week Tonight.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 13, 2023

Bewick's swans, a migratory water bird that breeds south of the Barents Sea in European Russia, is now seen much less often in the Netherlands than in previous years.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2023

The flatworm begins its life in a snail, then moves into a California killifish, then to its final destination in the gut of a predatory water bird, such as a heron or egret.

From Scientific American ● May 18, 2022

Without being seen by the parents, he took the bird into the hut and exchanged it for the water bird.

From "The Girl Who Married a Lion: and Other Tales from Africa" by Alexander Mccall Smith