softbilladj.n.
/ˈsɒf(t)bɪl/, U.S. /ˈsɔf(t)ˌbɪl/, /ˈsɑf(t)ˌbɪl/ Ornithology.
A. adj.
= soft-billed adj.
ΚΠ
1829 E. Griffith et al. Cuvier's Animal Kingdom VIII. 617 Soft-bill Duck,..Anas Melanorhynchos.
1876 Independent Statesman (Concord, New Hampsh.) 20 July 343/6 (advt.) Prepared Food For Mocking Birds, Thrushes, Skylarks, and all soft-bill birds.
1903 Forest & Stream 25 May 404/1 Soft bill birds could never be persuaded to touch grain, but readily take to insects or chopped meat.
2004 D. Grindol & T. Roudybush Teaching your Bird to Talk xv. 188 Mynahs are softbill birds and require different care from parrots.
B. n.
Esp. in aviculture: any bird, esp. a songbird, that has a bill adapted for feeding on soft foods such as insects and fruit. Contrasted with hardbill n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > unspecified and miscellaneous birds > [noun] > miscellaneous
night-raveneOE
cold-finch1676
crane1678
diver1694
solitary1708
wheat-bird1747
yellow-bill1775
Chinese thrush1781
whidah thrush1781
tomtit1789
solitaire1797
year-bird1798
softbill1830
swift-shrike1841
scissor bird1843
seed finch1862
sea-flyer1869
stalker1872
seven sisters1873
dicky bird1879
baboon bird1883
1830 E. Moore in Trans. Plymouth Institution 202 Gen.—The Soft-Bills. Subg.—(The Stone-Chats.)
1872 J. H. Stirling As Regards Protoplasm (new ed.) i. 50 The reader may be safely left to think for himself of ruminantia and carnivora, of soft bills and hard bills, of molluscs and men.
1958 A. D. Cruickshank & H. G. Cruickshank 1001 Questions Answered About Birds 274 Zoo keepers frequently divide birds into two groups according to their food habits: soft-bills which include insect and fruit eating birds (warblers, catbirds, blackbirds, etc.) and hard-bills.
2003 Cage & Aviary Birds 6 Dec. 12/1 Tropical softbills..offer an alternative to the frequently recommended birds such as Pekin robins, starlings and bulbuls.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1829