xenops

English

Plain xenops (Xenops minutus)

Etymology

From translingual Xenops, from Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈzinɑps/

Noun

xenops (plural xenopses)

1. Any of the tropical birds in the genera Xenops, Megaxenops and Microxenops, found in Central and South America.
   • 2015 09, Birds of South America: Passerines, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 60:

     PLAIN XENOPS Xenops minutus 12cm Separable from other xenopses by lack of streaking (check this carefully!). Short, level series of 4-5 very high, piercing notes. Understorey of humid forest and woodland. <1,000m, locally higher.

   • 2017 March 7, John Kricher, The New Neotropical Companion, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 298:

     [...] xenopses hang chickadeelike while searching the underside of a leaf. Ovenbirds of various species are often members of mixed foraging flocks. Woodcreepers were once placed in their own family, the Dendrocolaptidae, but are now grouped […]

   • 2021 June 29, Anna Lazowski, T. Rexes Can't Tie Their Shoes, Doubleday Books for Young Readers, →ISBN:

     Xenopses can hammer! The xenops has an upturned beak that it uses to hammer into decaying wood, to look for insects.