chiffchaff
1
9.5
- noun
- /ˈʧɪfˌʧæf/
- UK
:
chifchaf
- Meanwhile, Gidon Perlman, a genial and intense medical student who helped found the center, has retrieved another Chiffchaff from the mist nets and fans out its wing like a deck of tiny cards so that he can show me how to distinguish it from the nearly identical Willow Warbler.
Examples
-
He sits down at a table, weighs the pouch on an ounce scale, and extracts from it a small gray bird, a Chiffchaff, which he holds, wings flattened, in one large hand.
Academic text (2001) -
It happened in the same Jerusalem Bird Observatory where I am getting my lesson on Chiffchaff emargination.
Academic text (2001) -
The Chiffchaff, he explains, has an emargination—a tiny notch—on the outer web of the sixth primary, whereas the Willow Warbler has an emargination on the fifth primary.
Academic text (2001) -
He blows on the soft tufted breast feathers to gauge the amount of fat on the bird and, having recorded his findings in a book, clips a band around the bird's ankle with a small pair of pliers and tosses the Chiffchaff casually behind him into the air.
Academic text (2001) -
As spring arrives, the cheerful chiffchaff songs fill the air, signaling the change in seasons.
-
The birdwatchers gathered in the park, excitedly pointing out the chiffchaff singing from a nearby branch.
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During my morning walk, I spotted a chiffchaff flitting among the leaves, its distinctive call echoing around the garden.
Synonyms
8
5.2
A small active bird that sings many clear notes
Surface Forms
Etymology
Chiffchaff copies the bird's song. The two parts chiff-chaff copy the short 'chiff-chaff' sound the bird makes, and, like the familiar name cuckoo, this helps you remember that a chiffchaff is a small songbird known for its repeating call.