indigo bunting
- noun
- /ˈɪndɪɡoʊ ˈbʌntɪŋ/
- US
:
bunting índigo
- PHOTO (BLACK & WHITE): Male indigo bunting in flight.
- indigo bunting and warbler
Examples
-
Like restless children in planetarium seats, the indigo buntings squirmed in their cone-shaped cages, leaving tiny footprints that indicated the direction they wanted to fly in.
Academic text (1995) -
Indigo buntings will be able to locate the celestial pole thousands of years from now, even though precession will have altered the circumpolar star patterns compared to the sky of today.
Academic text (1995) -
Probably what he saw was an indigo bunting.
Fiction book (2000) -
Among these are indigo buntings.
Academic text (1995) -
Map: Migration routes of indigo buntings.
Academic text (1995) -
I saw a yellow warbler and an indigo bunting at the Point.
Fiction book (1998) -
Once he saw an indigo bunting and was so excited he shouted, "Look!"
Fiction book (2000) -
Indigo buntings steer north by looking for star patterns near the north celestial pole.
Academic text (1995) -
During the summer, the bright blue plumage of the male indigo bunting stands out in the green fields.
-
While hiking, I spotted an indigo bunting perched on a branch, singing a sweet melody.
Synonyms
A small North American songbird with deep blue feathers
A small North American songbird whose male has bright blue feathers in summer
A small songbird from North America with bright blue male feathers
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound combines a color adjective noun 'indigo' with the bird type 'bunting', so its meaning — a bunting that is indigo-colored — is directly and predictably derived from the constituents. Color + animal compounds are cross-linguistically common and follow transparent compositional patterns that a B1 learner who knows both words will understand.
Etymology
Indigo bunting comes from two clear images: indigo for the deep blue colour of the male's feathers and bunting for a small songbird. Because the male looks like a little bird dyed deep blue, the name now means 'a small songbird with bright blue feathers'.
