noun

• 1A tropical American bird of the cotinga family, with loud explosive calls. There are wattles on the head of the male.

  Genus Procnias, family Cotingidae: four species

  ‘A 1969 survey had turned up a dismal count of just 21 tuis and 24 bellbirds for the entire island.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Soon we're hearing a frenzy of bellbirds - crow-size, white cotingas, that sound like cracked bells.’
  • ‘When a tui or a bellbird pops open a bud, all four petals spring back, and as the bird inserts its beak into the corolla to drink nectar, its head often brushes pollen onto the receptive stigma.’
  • ‘The fourth point is that it has a very high diversity and good numbers of native birds, including tui, bellbird, weka, yellow-breasted tit, robin, rifleman, brown creeper, fantail, kereru, grey warbler, and silvereye.’
  • ‘In the same woods, we also saw the large saddleback and the bellbird, the former with a glossy black head and body and a bright chestnut ‘saddle’ across its back, the latter, olive green with a red eye and a loud, clear ringing call.’
  • ‘Subtle enough to catch and lend fluency to the songs of crickets, frogs, cicadas and bellbirds, sometimes disappearing like an invisible songbird behind a static screen of notes.’
  • ‘Contrast this to the bellbird, a long-lived tropical bird in which individuals come to know one another well.’

• 2Any of a number of Australasian songbirds with a ringing call.

  ('New Zealand bellbird') a New Zealand honeyeater (Anthornis melanura, family Meliphagidae)('crested bellbird') an Australian whistler (Oreoica gutturalis, family Pachycephalidae)the bell miner

  ‘Theirs isn't the honeyed call of New Zealand bellbirds but a harsher sound my bird field guide book describes as a sharp ‘jak jak jak’.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘We were entertained by the familiar voices of crested bellbirds and rufous songlarks, but a different voice soon became evident.’
  • ‘There are signs of many birds such as the Major Mitchell cockatoos, mulga parrots, honeyeaters, crested bellbirds and many more.’
  • ‘Along these roads are many walking tracks where native birds such as wood pigeons, bellbirds, weka and fantails can be seen and heard.’
  • ‘There are still many native birds in the shrubland including bellbirds, kingfishers, silvereye and the hawk or kahu.’
  • ‘There is still the song of the bellbird and the other birds are still to be seen and heard, but not in such abundance.’
  • ‘When you need to pause for breath look at the surrounding bush, listen to the birds and watch to see fantails, bellbirds, and native pigeons.’
  • ‘He befriended native birds; his favourite a bellbird he named Oscar.’
  • ‘As we walked we heard bellbirds in the trees and saw a silvereye quite close on a small shrub.’
  • ‘It's not long before we hear the bellbirds that inhabit this end of the gardens.’
  • ‘We lay for a while before starting breakfast, warm in our bags, savouring the view and at the same time listening to the donging reverberations of a bellbird calling his good-morning song.’
  • ‘A bellbird's call, crystal clear, was the only intrusion.’
  • ‘A bellbird called as we walked into the eucalypt forest.’
  • ‘The piercing call of a bellbird draws attention to a soundtrack of bush noises.’
  • ‘As you walk you have a good chance of seeing some native birds - brown creepers, bellbirds, grey warblers and fantails.’
  • ‘Celebrate all that is distinctive. People come here to experience the so-called '100% pure’ New Zealand environment, and that includes special birds like the bellbird.’
  • ‘Resident ranger Maurice Puckett takes David Steemson on a visit with several hundred school children and explains how more spiders are evident, along with native cockroaches and bellbirds.’
  • ‘Last time that we walked the track we saw and/or heard bellbirds, fantails, chaffinches, greenfinches, grey warblers and a native pigeon.’
  • ‘The bush has abundant bird life, including the bellbird, tomtit, rifleman, wood pigeon and grey warbler.’
  • ‘In this area you may see the brown creeper, tomtit, robin, bellbird, rifleman, wood pigeon, falcon and kea.’