doctor bird

English

doctor bird

Etymology

Compound of doctor +‎ bird. The bird, endemic to Jamaica, is so named because its tail resembles a stethoscope.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒktɚ ˈbɝd/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒktə(r) ˈbɜː(r)d/
• Hyphenation: doc‧tor‧bird

Noun

doctor bird (plural doctor birds)

1. Trochilus polytmus; a red-billed streamertail; scissor-tail hummingbird; scissors tail hummingbird (hummingbird)

   The red-billed streamertail, also known as the doctor bird, is a hummingbird which is indigenous to Jamaica.

   • 2021, Leone Ross, This One Sky Day, Faber & Faber Limited, page 125:

     He listened to the zip of doctor birds at the window and the peach trees in the wind.

Translations

hummingbird

• Dutch: wimpelstaartkolibrie (nl) c
• Finnish: jamaikanpyrstökolibri (fi)
• French: colibri à tête noire m
• German: Wimpelschwanz m, Jamaika-Kolibri m, Rotschnabel-Jamaikasylphe f
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: вымпелохвостый коли́бри m (vympeloxvostyj kolíbri)
• Spanish: colibrí portacintas piquirrojo m

See also

• hummingbird
• streamertail