dunlin
/ˈdʌnlɪn
/noun (plural same or dunlins)
A migratory sandpiper with a downcurved bill and (in the breeding season) a reddish-brown back and black belly. It is the commonest small wader of the northern hemisphere.
- Calidris alpina, family Scolopacidae.
- Suddenly hundreds of lapwing, redshank and dunlin all took wing, rapidly climbing high above the flooded flats.
- In the long-term the scheme will provide ‘compensation’ for other areas where development means natural habitats are lost and they are hoping to attract species such as redshank, dunlin, curlew, golden plover and shelduck.
Origin
Mid 16th century: probably from dun1 + -ling, from the greyish-brown winter colouring of its upper parts.
- colour-de-roy
- colour diagram
- colour difference
- colour disc
- colour discrimination
- colour doctor
- colour duster
- colour dusting
- coloured
- coloured audition
- coloured clothes
- coloured hearing
- coloured pencil
- colour emphasis
- colourer
- colour expanse
- colour fast
- colour fastness
- colourfield
- colour-field painting
- colour film
- colour filter
- colour force
- colourful
- colourfully