doctor bird

Compound of doctor +‎ bird. The bird, endemic to Jamaica, is so named because its tail resembles a stethoscope.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒktɚ ˈbɝd/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɒktə(r) ˈbɜː(r)d/
• Hyphenation: doc‧tor‧bird

doctor bird (plural doctor birds)

1. Trochilus polytmus; a red-billed streamertail; scissor-tail hummingbird; scissors tail hummingbird (hummingbird)

   The red-billed streamertail, also known as the doctor bird, is a hummingbird which is indigenous to Jamaica.

   • 2021, Leone Ross, This One Sky Day, Faber & Faber Limited, page 125:

     He listened to the zip of doctor birds at the window and the peach trees in the wind.

• hummingbird
• streamertail