quelean.
/ˈkwiːlɪə/, U.S. /ˈkwiliə/ Any of the three African weaver birds of the genus Quelea (family Ploceidae), the males of which have either a black face or a red head; esp. (in full red-billed quelea) Q. quelea, which occurs in large flocks and is a major pest of grain crops. Also quelea bird; also called dioch.
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the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > family Ploceidae > [noun] > subfamily Ploceinae (weaver) > other or unspecified types of
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ring sparrow1678
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fox-sparrow1869
grasshopper sparrow1883
quelea1930
1930 C. F. Belcher Birds Nyasaland 316 (heading) Black-fronted Quelea.
1964 New Scientist 18 June 736/1 The Black-Faced Dioch (Quelea quelea), commonly known as the Quelea bird.
1979 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 287 300 If Quelea are learning to eat maize, should it not be an immediate short-term policy to control all such colonies?
1998 Britannica Online (Version 98.2) Queleas breed in thorn-scrub country: every bush and tree for miles around may contain hundreds of their globular nests.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1930