reed bunting
- noun
- UK
:
escribano palustre
- The male reed bunting is easily recognized by its distinct black head and streaked brown back as it flits among the reeds.
Examples
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While walking near the marsh, I spotted a reed bunting perched on a tall stalk, singing its cheerful song.
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The birds of the forestlands, woodlarks and stonechats, were replaced by sedge warblers and reed buntings who loved the riverside.
Fiction book (1992) -
In the early morning, the sound of a reed bunting filled the air as it called out from its hiding place in the dense grass.
Synonyms
A small brown bird that lives in reed marshes in Europe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a small songbird associated with reeds' is directly derivable from combining 'reed' (a marsh plant) with 'bunting' (a small songbird); a learner who knows both constituents can infer it is a bunting that lives among reeds. This noun–noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern of habitat-based bird names, so the composition is clearly transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
Reed bunting comes from the bird's home and its type: reed are the tall plants by the water where it lives and bunting is a small songbird, so the name simply tells you it is a small bird that lives among reeds.
