Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various small tropical passerine birds of the family Nectariniidae of Asia, Africa, and Australia, having a slender downward-curving bill and often brightly colored plumage in the male.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A common name of various birds.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Any one of numerous species of small brilliantly colored birds of the family Nectariniidæ, native of Africa, Southern Asia, the East Indies, and Australia. In external appearance and habits they somewhat resemble humming birds, but they are true singing birds (Oscines).
  • noun The sun bittern.

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

  • noun A bird belonging to any of several species in the family Nectariniidae.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

sun +‎ bird

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Examples

  • I'm guessing the directory "sunbird" in the new tarball has either changed or is in a different location now?

    PCLinuxOS-Forums 2009

  • I heard they built a restaurant (the sunbird) on one out here in Colorado Springs.

    Snake Hoaxes and "Manly" Photos 2009

  • Olive-backed Sunbird, Cinnyris jugularis formerly, Nectarinia jugularis; protonym; Certhia jugularis, also known as the yellow-bellied sunbird, photographed at Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah, Malaysia.

    Mystery bird: olive-backed sunbird, Cinnyris jugularis 2011

  • I heard they built a restaurant (the sunbird) on one out here in Colorado Springs.

    Snake Hoaxes and "Manly" Photos 2009

  • For example, I could just as easily see the OP deciding to live permanently in MX and then sunbird back to Minneapolis.

    Living in two places - dialogue wanted 2008

  • Other birds include: the endemic Seychelles bulbul Hypsipetes crassirostris, blue pigeon Alectroenas pulcherrima, Seychelles sunbird Nectarinia dussamieri, Seychelles kestrel Falco araea and an endemic cave-nesting swiftlet Collocalia francica elaphra.

    Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve, Seychelles 2008

  • Other rare birds are Fraser's eagle owl Bubo poensis, white-bellied robin chat Cossypher roberti, Grauer's warbler Graueria vittata, short-tailed warbler Hemitasia neumanni, yellow-eyed black flycatcher Melaenornis ardesiaca, montane double-collared sunbird Nectarinia ludovicenis and dusky twinspot Clytospiza cinereoinacea.

    Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda 2009

  • There are also fynbos endemics such as the orange-breasted sunbird Nectarinia violacea and Protea canary Serinus leucopterus.

    Cape Floral Protected Areas, South Africa 2009

  • The diverse vegetation communities support a notable resident and migratory bird fauna, including cliff species such as fox-kestrel Falco alopex, Gabar goshawk Melierax gabar, yellow-billed shrike Corvinella corvina scarlet-chested sunbird Chalcomitra senegalensis,, rose-ringed parakeet Psittacula krameri, cliff chat Thamnolea cinnamomeiventris (abundant) and rock dove Columbia livia.

    Cliffs of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons), Mali 2009

  • Sunbirds in the highland forest include the golden winged sunbird Nectarinia reichenowi and eastern double collared sunbird N. mediocris.

    Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania 2009

Comments

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  • Any of various small, tropical Old World passerine birds of the family Nectariniidae, having a slender downward-curving bill and often brightly colored plumage in the male.

    March 5, 2008