• Bananaquit

    Origin

    From banana + quit("small passerine bird").

    Full definition of bananaquit

    Noun

    bananaquit

    (plural bananaquits)
    1. A nectar-feeding bird, , thought to be related to the Darwin's finches and the grassquits.
      • 2000, John C. Avise, Phylogeography: The History and Formation of Species, page 270,Consider an example involving the bananaquit (Coereba flaveola), a common land bird in Central and South America and on several Carribean islands (Seutin et al., 1994).
      • 2009, Gilbert Waldbauer, What Good Are Bugs? Insects in the Web of Life, page 140,Since not all bananaquits nest near wasp nests, Wunderle and Pollock were able to compare the nesting success of pairs nesting near or away from polybiine colonies.
      • 2010, LeAnn Neal Reilly, The Mermaid's Pendant, page 490,It had been weeks since Valerie had been outside on the patio, weeks since Ana had left out sugar water for the hummingbirds and bananaquits, who still continued to flutter around the empty feeders ever hopeful that their easy nectar would return.
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