Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Having the tail wedged or cuneate: noting birds whose tail-feathers are regularly graduated in length to such an extent that the tail when moderately spread appears to be beveled off obliquely at the end from the middle to the outermost feather on each side. It is a very common formation. See cuts under Sphenocercus, Sphenura, Triehoglossus, and Uroaëtus.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. (Zoöl.) Having a tail which has the middle pair of feathers longest, the rest successively and decidedly shorter, and all more or less attenuate; -- said of certain birds. See
Illust. of Wood hoopoe, under wood.
Examples
“High up, a wedge-tailed eagle circles, scanning the sea for scraps of forgotten lunch.”
“Late last year he was with a mate inspecting crop damage caused by rabbits when they spotted three wedge-tailed eagles circling the paddock.”
“Raptors recorded from the area include the wedge-tailed eagle Aquila audax and a number of owls.”
“On the opposite bank, in the top of a river red gum, a pair of wedge-tailed eagles were nesting, seizing the advantage of the mass of birds and animals flocking to the river.”
“Other important species breeding within the preserve include Kermadec petrel Pterodroma neglecta, black-winged petrel P. nigripennis, wedge-tailed shearwater Puffinus pacificus, little shearwater P. assimilis, white-bellied storm petrel Fregetta grallaria, masked booby Sula dactylatra, red-tailed tropic bird Phaeton rubricauda in greater concentrations than probably anywhere else in the world.”
“Birds that frequent high elevations include Richard's pipit (Anthus novaeseelandiae), flame robin (Petroica phoenicea), little raven (Corvus mellori), and wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax).”
“The majority of these islands have been heavily disturbed by military activities and phosphate mining though the area does includes some of the largest seabird colonies in the world, including millions of sooty terns and wedge-tailed shearwaters.”
“The following birds utilize a variety of habitats, including eucalypt woodlands: a subspecies of wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax fleayi), Tasmanian native hen (Gallinula mortierii), Tasmanian thornbill (Acanthiza ewingii), and yellow wattlebird (Anthochaera paradoxa).”
“The great wedge-tailed eagle (eagle-hawk) is a rare visitor, and is not a fisher.”
“Another bird to keep an eye out for is the wedge-tailed eagle, the king of the sky.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘wedge-tailed’.
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FUN - fish can be...
Compound adjectives - based on the FAO ASFIS list of waterborne species.
arc-eye, U-mark, U-spot, X-ray, Y-prickleback, ox-eyed, big-claw, big-eye, big-eyed, big-head, big-lip, big-scale and 509 more...
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Bird Wirds: Adjectives
Adjectives used in actual (non-taxonomic) bird names, past and present.
roseate, glossy, whooping, neotropic, pelagic, ferruginous, crested, whiskered, marbled, tufted, horned, eared and 818 more...
Tweets
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