Cotinga

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of brightly colored bird found in Central and South America that is known for its vivid plumage and diverse species
2. A genus of songbirds recognized for their striking colors and often residing in tropical forests across the Americas
3. An avian family characterized by vibrant feathers and a range of habitats from lowland rainforests to mountainous regions in the New World

Etymology: The cotinga is a bird whose name was borrowed from an Indigenous language of South America. Its path into science runs through Old Tupi, a language once widely spoken along the Brazilian coast, where "cutinga" was the name used for these birds. European naturalists who encountered the birds in the New World adopted that name and Latinised it into "cotinga" as a scientific label for the group. The word is therefore a neat example of how Europeans recorded Indigenous names for American wildlife and then fixed them in the taxonomy of the natural sciences. Its New Latin form marks the moment when a local name became a technical term, and the family that carries it now includes birds ranging from lowland rainforests to mountain slopes across the Americas.

Synonyms: songbird, avian species