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Glite Dictionary
mountain quail

mountain quail

9.0
A small ground bird in western North America that lives in mountains and has a long feather on its head
  • noun
  • /ˈmaʊntən kweɪl/
  • US
translation icon : codorniz de montaña
  • We spotted a pair of mountain quail foraging near the river's edge this morning.

Examples

  • Unlike other quails, the mountain quail has a distinctive long plume on its head.

  • The mountain quail inhabits the dense brushy slopes of the western United States.

  • The mountain quail is often found in rugged terrains.

  • Have you ever seen a mountain quail in the wild?

  • The mountain quail is often found in the rugged terrain of the Sierra Nevada.

  • During our hike in the mountains, we spotted a beautiful mountain quail near the trail.

  • Birdwatchers frequently travel to see the mountain quail in its natural habitat.

Surface Forms

mountain quail singular
mountain quails plural

Morphology

mountain + quail

The compound simply names a type of quail associated with mountainous habitat, so a learner who knows 'mountain' and 'quail' can straightforwardly infer it refers to a quail living in mountains. This noun + noun species naming pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English composition, making the meaning transparent to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Mountain quail comes from the two words mountain and quail, meaning a small ground bird that lives on high, bushy hills. So the name simply says this is a quail 'found in mountain areas', which helps you remember where it lives and why it looks a bit different from other quails.