Birdlet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tiny or juvenile avian creature that is often seen as a developing version of a larger bird species
2. A small avifauna member usually regarded as a young individual or a less mature example of its kind
3. A miniature or young avian species commonly perceived as a lesser or immature form of a larger bird type

Etymology: "Birdlet" is a plain formation: the noun "bird" with the diminutive suffix "-let" attached. That suffix came into English from Old French "-elet" and "-let" forms, and it is the same ending found in words like "booklet," "piglet," and "streamlet," where it marks something small or slight. Adding it to "bird" gives a little bird, and the word follows the same pattern as those other compounds rather than arising from any special history of its own.

Synonyms: chick, nestling, fledgling, young bird, hatchling