passerine
of, belonging, or pertaining to the order Passeriformes, comprising more than half of all birds and typically having the feet adapted for perching.
any bird of the order Passeriformes.
Origin of passerine
1Other words from passerine
- non·pas·ser·ine, adjective, noun
Words Nearby passerine
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use passerine in a sentence
There are not more than about twenty species of small passerine birds that live all the year in London proper.
Birds in London | W. H. HudsonStrepera, strep′e-ra, n. an Australian genus of corvine passerine birds, the crow-shrikes.
Turdus, tur′dus, n. a genus of passerine birds of the Turdid family, the thrushes.
Tyran′nid, a family of passerine birds, the typical genus Tyran′nus, the tyrant-birds or tyrant-flycatchers.
The pie, the gallinaceous, the columbine and passerine tribes resort to the fruit- bearing trees.
Wanderings in South America | Charles Waterton
British Dictionary definitions for passerine
/ (ˈpæsəˌraɪn, -ˌriːn) /
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
any bird belonging to the order Passeriformes
Origin of passerine
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for passerine
[ păs′ə-rīn′ ]
Belonging to the avian order Passeriformes, which includes the perching birds. Passerine birds make up more than half of all living birds. They are of small to medium size, have three toes pointing forward and one pointing back, and are often brightly colored. Larks, swallows, jays, crows, wrens, thrushes, cardinals, finches, sparrows, and blackbirds are all passerine birds.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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