Montagu's harrier
- noun
- Specialized
:
aguilucho de Montagu
- While birdwatching in the marshes, I spotted a Montagu's harrier gliding gracefully over the tall grass.
Examples
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Occasional raptors beside the river were: Common Kestrel, Short-toed Eagle, and Montagu's Harrier.
Blog text (23) -
The Montagu's harrier is known for its distinctive flying style, often hovering while searching for prey.
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Back in England in September, the ship then underwent a refit over the winter, before returning to its role as Montagu's flagship in the spring of 1660.
Academic text (2010) -
In open fields during spring, you can often see the Montagu's harrier hunting for small rodents.
Synonyms
A brown European bird of prey with a slim body and long wings often seen over fields
Surface Forms
Morphology
Montagu's + harrier
The element 'harrier' clearly signals the referent is a type of bird of prey, and the possessive 'Montagu's' indicates an eponymous/species name, so a learner who knows both words will understand this is a particular kind of harrier. However, the precise species identity, range, and distinguishing features (brownish plumage, European distribution) are not derivable from the constituents alone, so full meaning is not predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Montagu's harrier comes from the English naturalist George Montagu, who first 'described' the bird. A harrier is a bird that flies low over fields to hunt, so the name tells us this is Montagu's bird of that kind.
