kagu
1
9.9
A rare bird that cannot fly and has a crest that lives in New Caledonia forests
- noun
- /ˈkɑːɡu/
- Australian
:
kagu
- Visitors to New Caledonia are often excited to catch a glimpse of the rare kagu in its natural habitat.
- kagu relative
Examples
-
Quite a few birds besides the moas were big and flightless, including a thirty-pound goose, a thirty-pound giant kagu relative with an adzlike bill, a big duck, and a giant coot.
Academic text (1990) -
The kagu is a unique bird found only in the forests of New Caledonia, known for its striking crest.
-
Despite being flightless, the kagu has adapted well to life in the dense undergrowth of its island home.
Surface Forms
Etymology
Kagu probably comes from a local New Caledonian name for the bird and was taken into French and English. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine the bird's soft 'kagu' call echoing in the island forest, because the name is simply the local word for this rare, crested, flightless bird.