monkey-birdn.
/ˈmʌŋkɪˌbəːd/, U.S. /ˈməŋkiˌbərd/ A bird likened to a monkey in some way, esp. in respect of its call; (formerly) (South African) the red-billed or green wood-hoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus (also called kakelaar).
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1848 R. H. Schomburgk Hist. Barbados 681 Vireo olivacea Wilson. The Monkey Bird.
1908 East London Daily Dispatch (S. Afr.) 4 Dec. 4 Here about it is sometimes referred to as the monkey-bird because of a resemblance in its cries to the explosive barking of the black-faced monkey.
1937 M. Alston Wanderings of Bird-lover in Afr. 223 The noisy red-billed hoopoes..well deserve the name of either ‘kakelaars’ or ‘monkey-birds’.
1992 E. Hoagland in Balancing Acts 178 The king vulture is called ‘King John Crow’; the screech owl, the ‘monkey bird’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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