white-chinned petrel
- noun
- Australian
- Conservationists are concerned about declining white-chinned petrel populations due to fishing bycatch.
Examples
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The white-chinned petrel breeds on remote islands in the subantarctic region.
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The white-chinned petrel is often seen gliding over the waves.
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A white-chinned petrel was spotted gliding above the stormy southern seas.
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Many white-chinned petrels migrate to warmer waters in winter.
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A white-chinned petrel was spotted gliding above the stormy southern seas.
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The white-chinned petrel breeds on remote islands in the subantarctic region.
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Many white-chinned petrels migrate to warmer waters in winter.
Synonyms
A large black seabird with a small white mark on its chin that lives in southern oceans
Surface Forms
Morphology
white-chinned + petrel
The compound is fully compositional: 'white-chinned' denotes having a white chin (white + chin + -ed adjective formation) and combined with 'petrel' yields ‘a petrel with a white chin’. This color + body-part modifier + noun pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning.
Etymology
White-chinned petrel comes from how the bird looks: it is mostly black but has a clear white patch on its chin. That's why the name means 'a large black seabird with a white patch on its chin'.