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

See Examples For:

widow bird

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

Its motto is taken from some lines by Shelley:—   _A widow bird sate mourning for her love   Upon a wintry bough;   The frozen wind crept on above,   The freezing stream below.

From Edward MacDowell by John F. Porte

"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 Rupert Hughes