widow bird

American  

noun

1. whydah.

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widow bird British  

noun

1. another name for whydah

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Etymology

Origin of widow bird

1765–75; translation of New Latin Vidua, name of the genus ( Latin: widow ). See whydah

Example Sentences

Or you could jump in the air, like a male widow bird.

From The Guardian • Jul. 20, 2013

Slighty longer, with a tail four times its body length, is the male long-tailed widow bird.

From National Geographic

The male long-tailed widow bird uses its tail feathers to attract females.

From National Geographic

And as she stood there, dry-eyed, mute, from the dusky garden came the whispering cry of the widow bird, calling, calling to the dead that answer never more.

From Special Messenger by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)

"Winter" does better, for it has a freezing stream, a mill-wheel, and a "widow bird."

From Contemporary American Composers Being a Study of the Music of This Country, Its Present Conditions and Its Future, with Critical Estimates and Biographies of the Principal Living Composers; and an Abundance of Portraits, Fac-simile Musical Autographs, and Compositions by Hughes, Rupert