prairie chicken
1
8.0
- noun
- /ˈprɛəri ˈtʃɪkɪn/
- US
:
gallo de las praderas
- One spring morning, I rose before dawn to shiver in a blind and watch male prairie chickens dance their mating dance, rolling their bizarre, round-sounding calls across the level lek, trying to lure in the females.
- lesser prairie chicken
- prairie chicken habitat
- prairie chicken response
Examples
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The male prairie chicken performed its booming display to attract a mate on the open grassland.
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"It's the name of a very special kind of prairie chicken that lives only in Texas," Rick explained.
Fiction book (1999) -
Now he knew there was no way he could compete with the male prairie chickens.
Fiction book (1999) -
Other male prairie chickens started stomping and making the same low, hollow noise.
Fiction book (1999) -
The light of the new day spread across the sky as the female prairie chickens walked out onto the booming grounds.
Fiction book (1999) -
"We all know that badgers can never out-boom prairie chickens," Rick said.
Fiction book (1999) -
Conservation efforts are crucial to protect the lesser prairie chicken from habitat loss in the Midwest.
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During spring, the prairie chicken can be heard calling to establish its territory across the fields.
Synonyms
1
8.2
A small grassland bird in western Texas and nearby areas that dances to attract mates
A large North American bird that makes booming sounds during mating displays
A large brown bird that lives in North American grasslands and makes loud mating calls
A brown and spotted North American bird that lives in prairie grasslands, like the prairie chicken
A brown bird with spotted feathers that lives on grasslands in western North America
A group of North American wild birds like prairie chickens in the grouse family
A small prairie bird like a chicken that lives in western Texas
Surface Forms
Morphology
prairie + chicken
The compound transparently combines 'prairie' (grassland) + 'chicken' (a bird), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can infer it refers to a bird associated with prairies. Specific taxonomic details (that it is a grouse with a distinctive call) are not predictable from the parts, but the basic meaning is compositional and cross-linguistically straightforward.
Etymology
Prairie chicken is a name that comes from the bird's home and its look: it lives on the prairie, or open grassland, and looks a bit like a brown chicken. People who watched its loud booming call and strange dance used that name, so today prairie chicken simply refers to that species of bird.