redbird

American  

[red-burd] / ˈrɛdˌbɜrd /

noun

1. any of various birds having red plumage, especially the northern cardinal.

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Etymology

Origin of redbird

First recorded in 1660–70; red ¹ + bird

Example Sentences

Watching with delight in spring as a male redbird presents his mate with an edible demonstration of his “fitness as a partner,” she comments, “In the avian world, a grub is an engagement ring.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2024

I wanted to roll it in my palm like the head of a small redbird until it sang to me.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 12, 2016

Johnny Morris capered and danced and jumped so hard in the exuberance of his joy at receiving the redbird that all the way to the sitting room his mother was coaxing him to be quiet.

From Dickey Downy The Autobiography of a Bird by Patterson, Virginia Sharpe

In the woods," said Mary, thoughtfully, "the dew drips tinkling from the leaves; Jeffers, the redbird, was never born, but hatched.

From Sons and Fathers by Edwards, Harry Stillwell

A redbird, her namesake, trilled long and loud, and another answered from a more distant tree.

From Shaman by Shea, Robert