killdeer

(kil′dir′)

☆

a medium-sized North American plover (Charadrius vociferus) with a high, piercing cry, that nests in open fields, on beaches, etc.

Origin: echoic of its cry

See killdeer in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. killdeer killdeer or kill·deers

A New World plover (Charadrius vociferus) that has a distinctive noisy cry and two black bands across its breast.

Origin:

Origin: Probably imitative of its call

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