precocialadj.
/prᵻˈkəʊʃl/, U.S. /prəˈkoʊʃ(ə)l/ Chiefly Ornithology.
Of an animal, esp. a bird: able to move about and feed independently soon after hatching or birth; having young which are able to do this; = nidifugous adj. Contrasted with altricial.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > young bird > [adjective] > bearing well-developed young
precocial1869
precocious1897
nidifugous1902
the world > animals > family unit > [adjective] > young > living independent of parent
free-living1860
autophagous1873
precocious1897
precocial1932
1869 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia 194 Altricial and præcocial orders must be so drawn that, while they are mutually representative to a degree, as wholes, they do not include, each in itself, modified representations of each other.
1872 E. Coues Key to N. Amer. Birds Index Præcoces, birds that run about at birth. Præcocial, able to run about at birth.
1888 Proc. Royal Soc. 1887–8 43 467 The Swan, one of the noblest of the Precocial birds.
1902 Westm. Gaz. 29 Apr. 2/1 Præcocial birds appear to have much less receptivity than altricial birds.
1932 J. S. Huxley Probl. Relative Growth iii. 90 The same reasoning applies to Ocypoda [sc. ghost crabs], whose young are similarly precocial.
1949 A. Leopold Sand County Almanac i. 35 The hen plover is brooding the four large pointed eggs which will shortly hatch four precocial chicks.
1974 Nature 30 Aug. 732/2 A murid rodent whose precocial infants possess functional motor and sensory capabilities within hours of birth.
2002 Northern Woodlands Spring 4/3 Woodcock eggs hatch. The precocial chicks leave the nest within a day of hatching.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1869