passerine
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Related to Passerine bird: Passeriformes, Perching birds
pas·ser·ine
(păs′ə-rīn′)adj.
Of or relating to birds of the order Passeriformes, which have feet specialized for grasping branches and similar structures, with the first toe facing backward. The order includes the songbirds and certain other groups, such as the flycatchers of the Americas.
n.
A bird of the order Passeriformes. Also called perching bird.
[Latin passerīnus, of sparrows, from passer, sparrow.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
passerine
(ˈpæsəˌraɪn; -ˌriːn)adj
(Animals) of, relating to, or belonging to the Passeriformes, an order of birds characterized by the perching habit: includes the larks, finches, crows, thrushes, starlings, etc
n
(Animals) any bird belonging to the order Passeriformes
[C18: from Latin passer sparrow]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
pas•ser•ine
(ˈpæs ər ɪn, -əˌraɪn, -əˌrin)adj.
1. of, belonging, or pertaining to the order Passeriformes, comprising more than half of all birds and typically having the feet adapted for perching.
n. 2. any bird of the order Passeriformes.
[1770–80; < Latin passerīnus of a sparrow]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
pas·ser·ine
(păs′ə-rīn′) Belonging to the order of perching birds, including more than half of all living birds. Passerine birds are of small to medium size, have three toes pointing forward and one pointing back, and are often brightly colored. The songbirds are passerines.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. |  passerine - perching birds mostly small and living near the ground with feet having 4 toes arranged to allow for gripping the perch; most are songbirds; hatchlings are helplessbird - warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings order Passeriformes, Passeriformes - largest order of birds comprising about half the known species; rooks; finches; sparrows; tits; warblers; robins; wrens; swallows; etc.; the four suborders are Eurylaimi and Tyranni and Menurae and Oscines or Passeres oscine, oscine bird - passerine bird having specialized vocal apparatus sparrow, true sparrow - any of several small dull-colored singing birds feeding on seeds or insects lyrebird - Australian bird that resembles a pheasant; the courting male displays long tail feathers in a lyre shape scrub bird, scrubbird, scrub-bird - small fast-running Australian bird resembling a wren and frequenting brush or scrub broadbill - small birds of the Old World tropics having bright plumage and short wide bills tyrannid - a passerine bird of the suborder Tyranni jenny wren, wren - any of several small active brown birds of the northern hemisphere with short upright tails; they feed on insects |
| Adj. | 1. | passerine - relating to or characteristic of the passeriform birds nonpasserine - relating to or characteristic of birds that are not perching birds |
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