black-crowned night heron
- noun
- /blækˈkraʊnd naɪt ˈhɛrən/
:
garza de corona negra
- We spotted a black-crowned night heron wading in the marsh at sunrise.
Examples
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The black-crowned night heron is known for its striking red eyes and black head plumage.
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Several black-crowned night herons roosted quietly in the branches above the pond.
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The black-crowned night heron is known for its striking appearance.
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Many black-crowned night herons migrate during the winter months.
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During our birdwatching trip, we spotted a black-crowned night heron standing by the water's edge.
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The black-crowned night heron is known for its distinctive black cap and is often seen hunting at dusk.
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As we walked through the park, a black-crowned night heron flew overhead, its silhouette striking against the evening sky.
Synonyms
A medium-sized bird like a heron with a black crown and grey wings that is active at night
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'black-crowned' (having a black crown), 'night' (nocturnal), and 'heron' (a bird) combine to describe a heron active at night with a black cap. This follows regular adjective+noun modification patterns found cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the overall meaning.
Etymology
The name black-crowned night heron comes from the bird's look and when it is active: it has a dark, hat-like patch on its head, the black-crowned, and it often looks for food after dark, the night heron, so the name tells you it's a heron 'active at night' with a 'black crown'.
