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white-chinned petrel

white-chinned petrel

8.8
A large black sea bird with a white patch on its chin that lives in southern oceans
  • noun
  • Australian
translation icon : petrel de barbilla blanca
  • Conservationists are concerned about declining white-chinned petrel populations due to fishing bycatch.

Examples

  • The white-chinned petrel breeds on remote islands in the subantarctic region.

  • The white-chinned petrel is often seen gliding over the waves.

  • A white-chinned petrel was spotted gliding above the stormy southern seas.

  • Many white-chinned petrels migrate to warmer waters in winter.

  • A white-chinned petrel was spotted gliding above the stormy southern seas.

  • The white-chinned petrel breeds on remote islands in the subantarctic region.

  • Many white-chinned petrels migrate to warmer waters in winter.

Synonyms

Procellaria aequinoctialis
vswhite-chinned petrel
  • Specialized
9.9

A large black seabird with a small white mark on its chin that lives in southern oceans

is the common everyday name used by general speakers

Surface Forms

Morphology

white-chinned + petrel

The compound is fully compositional: 'white-chinned' denotes having a white chin (white + chin + -ed adjective formation) and combined with 'petrel' yields ‘a petrel with a white chin’. This color + body-part modifier + noun pattern is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer the meaning.

Etymology

White-chinned petrel comes from how the bird looks: it is mostly black but has a clear white patch on its chin. That's why the name means 'a large black seabird with a white patch on its chin'.