ornithology

noun or·ni·thol·o·gy \ ˌȯr-nə-ˈthä-lə-jē \

|Updated on: 25 Jul 2018

Definition of ornithology

plural ornithologies

1 : a treatise on ornithology

2 : a branch of zoology dealing with birds

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ornithological

play \ˌȯr-nə-thə-ˈlä-ji-kəl\ or less commonly ornithologic play \ˌȯr-nə-thə-ˈlä-jik\ adjective

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ornithologically

play \ˌȯr-nə-thə-ˈlä-ji-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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ornithologist

play \ˌȯr-nə-ˈthä-lə-jist\ noun

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Recent Examples of ornithology from the Web

On a dewy summer morning, Karla Rivera-Cáceres, an ornithology researcher at the University of Miami, crouched in her usual workspace –– the tall grasses of Costa Rica’s woodland –– and heard something unusual.

— tarpley hitt, miamiherald, "A lesson from mating birds: The song gets sweeter over time, a Miami scientist finds | Miami Herald," 29 Mar. 2018
Archibald and Ron Sauey of Baraboo were fellow graduate students in ornithology at Cornell University who shared a passion for cranes.

— travel wisconsin, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "The human spirit: Wisconsin’s conservation heroes," 10 June 2018
Richard Feynman is often quoted as saying that the philosophy of science is of much use to scientists as ornithology is to birds.

— philip ball, WIRED, "Questioning Truth, Reality, and the Role of Scientific Progress," 2 June 2018
Text and drawing together take us to the dawn of ornithology—that is to say, to the first efforts to collect objective information about birds.

— simon barnes, WSJ, "‘Pasta for Nightingales’ Review: Birdwatching Tips From the Renaissance," 13 Apr. 2018
Robert Prys-Jones, the retired former head of the ornithology collection, confirmed to me that recent research into feathers from the museum’s 150-year-old seabird collection helped document rising heavy-metal pollutant levels in the oceans.

— franz lidz, Smithsonian, "The Great Feather Heist," 21 Mar. 2018
Find more information here, http://eaglecreekpark.org/ornithology-center/.

— michelle pemberton, Indianapolis Star, "How you can get up close with owls, other birds at Eagle Creek," 20 Feb. 2018
To make sure his pessimistic message is right up front, a third of Brunner’s 19 chapters focus on famous liars in ornithology.

— richard o. prum, New York Times, "The Passion and Peril of Birding," 23 Jan. 2018
The team also plans on collaborating with Aboriginal authors on future publications, part of an effort to incorporate indigenous ecological knowledge into ornithology.

— asher elbein, New York Times, "In Australia, Arsonists May Have Wings," 5 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ornithology.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.