Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several African weaverbirds of the genus Vidua, the male of which grows long, drooping, predominantly black tail feathers during the breeding season. Also called widow bird.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See whidah, whidahbird.
Wiktionary
- n. name for various African, black-and-white weaverbirds with distinctive drooping long tail-feathers on males in mating season, suitable as cage birds
WordNet 3.0
- n. mostly black African weaverbird
Etymologies
- alteration of the first component of widow bird (Wiktionary)
- Probably alteration of widow (bird). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The Whydah Sea Lab and Learning Center (whydah. com) houses treasures recovered by explorer Barry Clifford from the wreckage of Capt.”
“This bad habit is known of the Old World cuckoos, the American cow - birds, the South American rice grackle (_Cassidix_), and suspected in the pin-tail whydah (_Vidua serena_).”
The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals A Book of Personal Observations
“The young whydah birds crouch closely together at night for heat.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘whydah’.
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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Animals With Nifty Names
hamster, gerbil, ferret, horse, skink, newt, shark, octopus, weasel, panda, giraffe, hyena and 129 more...
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Still More Bird Wirds
A work in progress....Birds from around the world (other than endemic to North America).
barbet, hornbill, trogon, bee-eater, bristlehead, wren-babbler, stubtail, blackeye, bush warbler, cassowary, bowerbird, bird-of-paradise and 722 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for whydah.
reesetee A small African finch of any of several African weaverbirds. Males have long, drooping tail feathers during the breeding season. Feb 14, 2007