insessorial

American  

[in-suh-sawr-ee-uhl, -sohr-] / ˌɪn səˈsɔr i əl, -ˈsoʊr- /

adjective

1. adapted for perching, as a bird's foot.

2. habitually perching, as a bird.

3. of or relating to birds that perch.

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insessorial British  

/ ˌɪnsɛˈsɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. (of feet or claws) adapted for perching

2. (of birds) having insessorial feet

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Etymology

Origin of insessorial

1830–40; < New Latin Insessor ( es ) the perching birds ( Latin: perchers, equivalent to insed-, variant stem of insīdere to settle on ( in- in- ² + sīdere to sit down) + -tōrēs, plural of -tor -tor ) + -ial

Example Sentences

Alau′da, a genus of insessorial birds, which includes the larks.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 1 A to Amide by Various

In the nine-year Report from the Zoological Society, twenty-four insessorial species are enumerated which had not bred, and of these only four were known to have coupled.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 2 by Darwin, Charles

His physical construction closely resembles that of his insessorial brethren, most of whom go when he comes.

From Lippincott's Magazine, December, 1885 by Various

Coniros′tres, a group of insessorial birds with such.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various