swallow-tailed hawk

9.1

A large North American hunting bird with black and white feathers and a deeply forked tail

noun
/ˈswɑloʊˌteɪld hɔk/

: halcón de cola de golondrina

The distinctive forked tail makes the swallow-tailed hawk easy to identify from a distance.

Examples

We spotted a swallow-tailed hawk gliding effortlessly above the river.
The swallow-tailed hawk soared gracefully above the trees.
Swallow-tailed hawks migrate to South America during the winter months.
Look! A swallow-tailed hawk just flew by!
We spotted a swallow-tailed hawk gliding effortlessly above the river.
The distinctive forked tail makes the swallow-tailed hawk easy to identify from a distance.
The swallow-tailed hawk soared gracefully above the trees.

Synonyms

kite

vsswallow-tailed hawk

7 7.4

A medium bird with long pointed wings that eats small animals

is a specific North American species with distinctive forked tail and plumage

swallow-tailed kite

vsswallow-tailed hawk

8.8

A bird of prey with a long forked tail and black and white feathers

uses an alternative form of that common name

Elanoides forficatus

vsswallow-tailed hawk

Specialized

9.9

A graceful black-and-white bird with a long forked tail

is the common English name rather than the Latin scientific label

glede

vsswallow-tailed hawk

Archaic

9.9

A bird that hunts for food like a hawk and eats small animals

is the modern common term rather than the archaic form

Surface Forms

swallow-tailed hawk singular

swallow-tailed hawks plural

Morphology

swallow-tailed + hawk

The noun is a straightforward combination of 'swallow-tailed' (having a tail like a swallow) and 'hawk' (a bird of prey), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a hawk with a swallow-like, deeply forked tail. This adjectival‑noun compositional pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so the meaning is predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Swallow-tailed hawk gets its name from a simple image: its long, deeply split tail looks like the tail of a small bird, the swallow. So, the name 'swallow-tailed' means 'having a tail like a swallow', which helps people identify this graceful hawk.