sea bird
1
2.0
- noun
- /siː bɜrd/
:
ave marina
- The amazingly abundant and beautiful marine fauna—including sea birds, penguins, and seals—are entirely dependent on the productivity of the surrounding ocean for their food.
Examples
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Lo, the evening has come down upon the shore, and in the fading light the sea birds come flying to their nests.
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A flock of 14 sea birds diving for fish.
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The helicopter sweeps low over a huge flock of sea birds that are feeding on a school of fish.
Fiction book (1993) -
Flocks of sea birds circled overhead, diving into the shallows in search of fish.
Blog text (4) -
A group of sea birds glided gracefully over the waves, searching for their next meal.
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At sunrise, the sea birds began to gather on the rocky shore, their calls echoing in the morning air.
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As we walked along the beach, we watched dozens of sea birds swoop down to catch fish in the surf.
Synonyms
51
1.0
A white bird with long wings that lives near the sea
27
2.0
A medium to large white seabird with long pointed wings and short legs
23
2.4
A large water bird with a long beak and a pouch for catching fish
10
1.9
A bird that lives near the sea and often flies over water, like gulls or albatrosses
9
6.9
A very large sea bird with long narrow wings that glides over the ocean
8
5.7
A small bird like a gull with narrow wings and a forked tail that lives by the sea
3
3.7
A bird that lives by the sea and searches mud or sand for food
1
7.8
Large tropical seabird with long wings and a forked tail that often steals food from other birds while flying
1
9.6
A small sea bird with long wings that flies far from land
1
7.5
A very large sea bird that has a mostly white body and very long black wings and flies long distances
1
5.4
A large gray and white bird that lives near coasts and makes loud calls
A bird that lives near the sea, like gulls or pelicans
A bird that lives mainly on the open sea far from land
A bird that lives and travels far out at sea
A large sea bird with long wings, tube nostrils, and a hooked bill that travels the open ocean
A large sea bird with long wings that looks clumsy on land
A mostly white bird with long wings that lives near the sea or lakes
A mostly white sea bird with webbed feet and long tail feathers that lives in warm seas far from land
A mostly white tropical bird with webbed feet and long tail feathers that lives at sea
A large sea bird with a long beak, very long wings, and a forked tail that flies over warm seas
A large diving bird that lives by the sea and dives for food
A bird like a loon that lives on northern lakes and the sea
A small seaside bird that feeds on rocky shores near the surf
A large eagle that lives near water and eats mostly fish
A large bird that hunts fish near the sea
How Marine
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a bird that lives near the sea' is directly and transparently derived from the constituents 'sea' (large saltwater) and 'bird' (feathered animal). This noun‑noun compounding pattern is cross‑linguistically common and follows straightforward compositional semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Sea bird comes from the simple idea of a bird that lives at the sea or flies over the open ocean. People used the two words together to name birds like gulls and albatrosses, so today sea bird means 'a bird that lives near the sea'.