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Glite Dictionary
Mother Carey's chicken

Mother Carey's chicken

1 9.9
A small seabird that flies low over the sea and often appears before storms
  • noun
  • UK
translation icon : gaviota de madre Carey
  • Look at that Mother Carey's chicken diving for fish!

Examples

  • Old sailors used to say that when Mother Carey's chicken appeared, a storm was on its way.

  • We spotted a flock of Mother Carey's chickens skimming just above the waves during the voyage.

  • Despite the rough weather, a lone Mother Carey's chicken circled the ship all afternoon.

  • I saw a Mother Carey's chicken during our trip to the coast.

  • Birdwatchers often use the phrase Mother Carey's chicken to refer to storm petrels seen along the North Atlantic coast.

  • During our trip to the coast, we spotted several Mother Carey's chickens gliding over the waves.

  • The wild Mother Carey's chicken is known for its graceful flight and is a favorite among ornithologists.

Synonyms

petrel
vsMother Carey's chicken
1 9.6

A small sea bird with long wings that flies far from land

is a North Atlantic common name applied to some of these species rather than all
Mother Carey's hen
vsMother Carey's chicken
  • UK
9.9

A small seabird that flies low over the sea, often near storms

is the alternate common name that uses young domestic bird wording instead of adult female wording
storm petrel
vsMother Carey's chicken
  • Specialized
8.8

A small seabird with dark feathers and pale belly that flies over the sea near storms

is a regional common name for several of these, especially in the North Atlantic

Surface Forms

Mother Carey's chicken singular
Mother Carey's chickens plural

Morphology

Mother + Carey's + chicken

This is a folkloric/proper-name label: 'Mother Carey's' is a cultural reference and does not transparently signal the species, and while 'chicken' names a bird, it does not indicate the specific notion 'storm petrel'. A B1 learner who knows the constituent words would not be able to infer that this refers to small storm‑petrels, so the overall meaning is idiomatic and unpredictable from the parts.

Etymology

Mother Carey's chicken comes from old sailors. One popular story says sailors thought Mother Carey was a sea spirit and the small birds called chickens often appeared before 'storms', so the name came to mean those small sea birds we now call storm petrels.