chough

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   either of two glossy black Eurasian birds of the genus Pyrrhocorax, noted for red or yellow bills and legs

   A red-billed chough wheeled above the coastal cliff.

2. 2
   noun

   the white-winged chough, an unrelated black-and-white Australian bird of the genus Corcorax

   A white-winged chough searched the dry woodland floor for insects.

From Middle English choughe and Old English ceo or ceahhe, names for crow-like birds, from a West Germanic word probably imitative of a harsh call. It is cognate with Scots kae and Dutch kauw ('jackdaw'). The Australian bird shares the common name but belongs to a different family.

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