whydah

Variant of whydah (bird)

whydah (bird) definition

whydah (bird) (hwid′ə, wid′ə)

noun

any of several chiefly brown-and-black, African passerine birds (family Ploceidae): the male has long, drooping tail feathers during the breeding season

Etymology: altered < widow bird, by assoc. with Ouidah (sometimes sp. Whidah), seaport in Dahomey

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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