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Glite Dictionary
Spizella pusilla

Spizella pusilla

9.9
A small North American sparrow with a pink bill and clear musical song that lives in open fields
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : gorrión de campo
  • Birdwatchers can identify Spizella pusilla by its pink bill and clear, musical song.

Examples

  • The Spizella pusilla is often heard singing from the tops of small shrubs in open fields.

  • Researchers observed the nesting behavior of Spizella pusilla in restored prairie habitats.

  • The Spizella pusilla is often seen in open fields.

  • Many birdwatchers enjoy spotting the Spizella pusilla.

  • Birdwatchers can identify Spizella pusilla by its pink bill and clear, musical song.

  • Researchers observed the nesting behavior of Spizella pusilla in restored prairie habitats.

  • The Spizella pusilla is often heard singing from the tops of small shrubs in open fields.

Synonyms

field sparrow
vsSpizella pusilla
  • US
7.7

A small brown bird with a pink beak that lives in fields and bushes

is the Latin scientific name for the same small finch used in formal contexts

Surface Forms

Spizella pusilla singular
Spizella pusillas plural

Morphology

Spizella + pusilla

This is a Latin scientific name (genus + species). Knowing 'Spizella' (a genus of small sparrows) gives the learner the general idea that it is a type of sparrow, but the species epithet 'pusilla' is undefined here and requires knowledge of Latin/taxonomic conventions to infer the precise sense, so the meaning is only partially recoverable by a B1 learner.

Etymology

Spizella pusilla comes from old naming words: Spizella is a small finch name and pusilla means 'very small' in Latin. So the name literally calls it a 'tiny sparrow', which fits this small North American finch.