scrub-bird

scrub-bird
/skrub"berrd'/, n.
either of two Australian passerine birds of the genus Atrichornis, related to the lyrebirds, having a loud voice and reduced powers of flight: A. clamosus is endangered.
[1865-70; SCRUB2 + BIRD]

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bird
 either of two species of rare Australian birds comprising the family Atrichornithidae (order Passeriformes), allied to lyrebirds. Both species are brown, with a longish, pointed tail—rather like the brown thrasher of the United States. The 22-centimetre (9-inch) western, or noisy, scrub-bird (Atrichornis clamosus), discovered in dry brushlands of Western Australia in the 1840s, was believed extinct after 1889 but was rediscovered in 1961. The 18-centimetre (7-inch) rufous scrub-bird (A. rufescens), discovered in the 1860s in wet forests of New South Wales, 2,500 miles (4,000 km) away from the other species, is now known to range to Queensland, where it is protected in Lamington National Park.

      Scrub-birds seldom fly but can disappear quickly afoot. Their near flightlessness is reflected in their anatomy: their clavicles are so poorly developed that they do not join, and, thus, scrub-birds are the only passerines lacking a wishbone. Their voice is remarkable: painfully loud, highly varied, and ventriloquial. The nest, on the ground, is a bulky, domed affair lined, uniquely, with wood pulp that dries to a cardboardlike consistency.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Scrub bird — Scrub Scrub (skr[u^]b), n. 1. One who labors hard and lives meanly; a mean fellow. A sorry scrub. Bunyan. [1913 Webster] We should go there in as proper a manner as possible; nor altogether like the scrubs about us. Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] 2.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • scrub|bird — «SKRUHB BURD», noun. either of two wrenlike perching birds that live in the dense scrub of Australia. One kind is nearly extinct …   Useful english dictionary

  • Scrub-bird — Taxobox name = Scrub birds image width = 240px image caption = A. clamosus regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Aves ordo = Passeriformes subordo = Passeri familia = Atrichornithidae familia authority = Stejneger, 1885 genus =… …   Wikipedia

  • scrub bird — noun small fast running Australian bird resembling a wren and frequenting brush or scrub • Syn: ↑scrubbird, ↑scrub bird • Hypernyms: ↑passerine, ↑passeriform bird • Member Holonyms: ↑Atrichornis, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • scrub-bird — noun small fast running Australian bird resembling a wren and frequenting brush or scrub • Syn: ↑scrubbird, ↑scrub bird • Hypernyms: ↑passerine, ↑passeriform bird • Member Holonyms: ↑Atrichornis, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • scrub-bird — /ˈskrʌb bɜd / (say skrub berd) noun either of two species of elusive, ground dwelling, Australian birds of the genus Atrichornis having fine, resonant voices, the rare and endangered noisy scrub bird, A. clamosus, of south western Australia and… …  

  • scrub-bird — atrichorniai statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas atitikmenys: lot. Atrichornis angl. scrub bird ryšiai: platesnis terminas – atrichorniniai siauresnis terminas – rudasis atrichornis siauresnis terminas – triukšmingasis atrichornis …   Paukščių pavadinimų žodynas

  • scrub bird — noun An Australian passerine bird of the family Atrichornithidae, as Atrichia clamosa Syn: brush bird …   Wiktionary

  • Noisy Scrub-bird — Conservation status Vulnerable ( …   Wikipedia

  • Rufous Scrub-bird — Taxobox name = Rufous Scrub bird status = VU status system = IUCN3.1 regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Aves ordo = Passeriformes familia = Atrichornithidae genus = Atrichornis species = A. rufescens binomial = Atrichornis rufescens… …   Wikipedia

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