Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A large crested songbird (Cardinalis sinuatus) of Mexico and the southwest United States, having gray and red plumage and a short thick bill.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of Fringillidæ, closely related to Cardinalis, but having a very short stout turgid bill, like a bullfinch's; the Texas cardinals.

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

  • noun Any of several North American birds, of the genus Cardinalis, that have grey and red plumage

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun crested grey-and-red bird of southwest United States and Mexico

Etymologies

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

[New Latin Pyrrhūloxia, name of the former genus in which the songbird was classified : Pyrrhūla, bullfinch genus (from Greek purroulas, red-colored bird, from purros, red, from pūr, fire; see pyre) + Loxia, crossbill genus (from Greek loxos, oblique).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From former genus name, from Pyrrhula ("genus of bullfinches") +‎ -oxia

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Examples

  • The male pyrrhuloxia takes it a step further and engages in some vigorous splashing before flitting away.

    KGBT 4 - KGBT - News of the Rio Grande Valley Richard Moore 2010

  • Bird-watcher Don Feyrer gets a fleeting glimpse of a red-trimmed pyrrhuloxia as the bird flits from a thicket along the Sutherland Trail.

    unknown title 2009

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