Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun ornithology A bird of the family Alcidae, including auks and puffins.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[New Latin Alcidae, from Alca, type genus, coined by Carolus Linnaeus from Swedish alka, auk, ultimately from Old Norse ālka, alka.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From scientific Latin Alcidae.

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Examples

  • The alcid wing shape, which is small and pointed, is a compromise between features that allow aerial flight and those that are ideal for underwater swimming.

    Alcids in marine ecosystems 2009

  • Some smaller alcid species visit breeding colonies only at night, coming and going under the protective cover of twilight or full darkness.

    Alcids in marine ecosystems 2009

  • As mentioned above, many alcid species are flexible as to the exact species of prey that they consume.

    Alcids in marine ecosystems 2009

  • How an alcid from the Pacific Ocean ended up north Kent, at a nature reserve known as Oare Marshes to be exact, might never be known, but birders, to use a regretfully common description, are "flocking" to see the rarity.

    10,000 Birds 2009

  • Normally found off eastern Canada and New England, this alcid comes this far south only rarely.

    A DC Birding Blog 2008

  • Basically, he's declared a big-time tie between, well, four alcid species (

    10,000 Birds 2010

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