English Vocabulary Words: Birds

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General Vocabulary Words about Birds

A bird’s mouth is called a beak. Birds can use their beaks to peck (hit or pick up) trees to get insects, or to pick up food from the ground. Birds’ bodies are covered with feathers, and their “arms” – which they use to fly – are called wings.

Birds build nests out of small sticks. They lay their eggs in the nest, and then the eggs hatch (open) and the chicks (baby birds) come out.

We have a variety of English words to describe the sounds that birds make:

• sing = when birds are making a musical sound
• tweet/twitter/cheep/chirp = when birds are making short, high sounds
• shriek/cry = a very loud, piercing sound made by a bird
• hoot = the deep sound made by an owl
• caw = the sound made by a crow (sounds like “AWW! AWW!”)
• cluck = the short, low sound that a chicken makes
• crow / cock-a-doodle-do = the sound that a rooster makes

Finally, some birds migrate – fly long distances to an area with a different climate. A group of birds is called a flock.

English Vocabulary Words for Types of Birds

Some birds are associated with the water, such as the duck, goose, swan, and seagull.

“Birds of prey” are birds that hunt and eat animals, such as the eagle, hawk, and owl. A vulture is a type of bird of prey that is known as a scavenger – it eats animals that are already dead.

Here are a few more interesting types of birds:

• crows and ravens are black birds
• the ostrich is a very large bird with a long neck
• the peacock is known for its colorful feathers
• the parrot is also colorful; some parrots can imitate human speech
• the pigeon is often found in cities
• the hummingbird feeds on the nectar inside flowers

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Image sources: LOKE SENG HON, Lucataxi at Italian Wikipedia, Victor Burolla from Alameda, CA, USA