greater prairie chicken
- noun
- /ˈɡreɪtər ˈprɛəri ˈtʃɪkən/
- Specialized
:
gallo de las praderas
- In the early spring, males perform elaborate dances to attract females among the greater prairie chickens in the grasslands.
Examples
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Look at that greater prairie chicken strutting its stuff!
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Conservationists are working to protect the habitat of the greater prairie chicken in the Midwest.
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The greater prairie chicken is known for its unique booming calls during mating season.
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We saw a flock of greater prairie chickens displaying their colorful feathers in the grasslands.
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The greater prairie chicken is known for its unique mating rituals.
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The conservation efforts have led to a noticeable increase in the population of the greater prairie chicken in recent years.
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Visitors to the reserve were thrilled to witness the vibrant courtship displays of the greater prairie chicken during their mating season.
Synonyms
1
8.0
A brown spotted bird that lives in North American grasslands and makes a low booming call during mating
A large North American bird that makes booming sounds during mating displays
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is fully compositional: 'greater' (larger) + 'prairie' (grassland) + 'chicken' (a bird) yields the sense of a larger chicken-like bird from the prairie, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer it denotes a species of bird. Although it is a specific species name (actually a type of grouse), the modifier+noun pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, making the referent predictable from the parts.
Etymology
Greater prairie chicken may come from early settlers who found a large ground bird on the prairie that looked and sounded a bit like a chicken. The word greater simply means 'bigger', so it names the larger of the prairie chicken species. That's why the name describes this big grassland bird today.