dovekie
/ˈdʌvki
/noun chiefly North American
Another term for little auk.One would imagine this place to be a paradise of alcids of all types, guillemots, dovekies, puffins, razorbills, murres, and murrelets all splashing around in their black and white finery....
- The current study identified a close relationship between the great auk and the dovekie.
- A patchy distribution of crustaceans (including T. libellula) in the NOW was indicated in a study of the diet of dovekies.
Origin
Early 19th century (originally denoting the black guillemot, Cepphus grylle, also formerly called the Greenland dove): from a Scots diminutive of dove1.