dovekie

noun

dove·​kie ˈdəv-kē 

: a small short-billed auk (Alle alle) breeding on arctic coasts and ranging south in winter

Examples of dovekie in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Sightings from Race Point in Provincetown included 2 Pacific loons, 11 red-necked grebes, 2 pomarine jaegers, a dovekie, 34 common murres, 425 razorbills, a black guillemot, 2 great shearwaters, 145 black-legged kittiwakes, 3 Iceland gulls, and a snowy owl. —BostonGlobe.com, 30 Dec. 2020

For now, the dovekie population is thriving, producing just as many healthy chicks as before. —Thor Hanson, WSJ, 24 Sep. 2021

Miscellaneous: Reports included a dovekie at Cuttyhunk Island. —BostonGlobe.com, 17 Apr. 2021

At Andrew’s Point in Rockport, sightings included a Pacific loon and a dovekie. —BostonGlobe.com, 28 Oct. 2019

Richards confirms that monkfish can prey on small birds called dovekies, and the biggest could indeed snatch a goose. —Rachel Ellner, BostonGlobe.com, 14 May 2018

Word History

Etymology

Scots, "the black guillemot (Cepphus grylle)," from dove dove entry 1 + -kie, double diminutive suffix (from -k, -ick, -ock -ock + -ie -ie); allegedly so called from the dove-like bond between nesting pairs

First Known Use

1821, in the meaning defined above