A small Caribbean and tropical American songbird related to the buntings, the male being partly or mainly black.
草雀
Family Emberizidae (subfamily Emberizinae): three genera, in particular Tiaris, and several species
Example sentencesExamples
They include the bananaquit, the blue-black grassquit, the blackfaced grassquit, and the St. Lucia black finch.
In our study, however, perches used by the grassquits emerged above the surrounding grassland vegetation, and displaying males were visible when resting, but became more conspicuous to us when they executed their displays.
There was a significant negative relationship between the display sighting rate with regard to the weeks of observation, indicating that fewer grassquits were displaying as the season progressed.
That rate reflects the frequency with which grassquits were encountered in display, because the time spent in the field involved both focal observations and time spent searching for individuals.
Recent studies of blue-black grassquits and blue grosbeaks suggest that structural plumage coloration is dependent on nutritional condition and thus could reliably signal mate quality.
Definition of grassquit in US English:
grassquit
nounˈɡraskwit
A small Caribbean and tropical American songbird related to the buntings, the male being partly or mainly black.
草雀
Family Emberizidae (subfamily Emberizinae): three genera, in particular Tiaris, and several species
Example sentencesExamples
That rate reflects the frequency with which grassquits were encountered in display, because the time spent in the field involved both focal observations and time spent searching for individuals.
Recent studies of blue-black grassquits and blue grosbeaks suggest that structural plumage coloration is dependent on nutritional condition and thus could reliably signal mate quality.
In our study, however, perches used by the grassquits emerged above the surrounding grassland vegetation, and displaying males were visible when resting, but became more conspicuous to us when they executed their displays.
There was a significant negative relationship between the display sighting rate with regard to the weeks of observation, indicating that fewer grassquits were displaying as the season progressed.
They include the bananaquit, the blue-black grassquit, the blackfaced grassquit, and the St. Lucia black finch.