currawong
English
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]Probably from Yagara garrawaŋ, ultimately onomatopoeic.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]currawong (plural currawongs)
- Any of the three species, and several subspecies, of large, mainly black, predatory passerine birds in the genus Strepera, of the family Artamidae, endemic to Australia.
- 1983, Robert Drewe, The Bodysurfers, Penguin, published 2009, page 68:
- Currawongs and cookaburras woke him early.
- 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 174:
- She has small unblinking eyes like a currawong, turning its head on one side and staring malevolently […].