phasianid
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]New Latin phasianida from Latin phasianus (“pheasant”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfeɪʃənɪd/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfeɪʃənəd/
Adjective
[edit]phasianid (comparative more phasianid, superlative most phasianid)
- Of or relating to semiflightless, gallinaceous game birds, such as pheasants, quails, peafowl, junglefowl, and guinea fowl.
- The chukar, a bird of the phasianid family, is distributed in Israel across a sharp climatic cline from Mediterranean regions in the north to extremely arid areas only ~200 km away in the Negev Desert.
- Specifically, belonging to the zoologic family Phasianidae, or associated with species falling under that taxonomic hierarchy.
- The megapode is viewed as a ‘specialised’ galliform, having extended the phasianid incubation period and producing superprecocial hatchlings that have developed in the egg for a further four weeks.
Synonyms
[edit]- (belonging to the Phasianidae): phasianous
Noun
[edit]phasianid (plural phasianids)
- Any semiflightless, gallinaceous game bird.
- It is a medium-sized phasianid: males can weight even 600 grams and are bigger than the females. Moreover, unlike the females, they have ergots on the claws.
- Typical of many phasianid birds, guinea fowl are capable runners that have strong burst-flight capacities but little endurance in flight.