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C2  ·  20 words

Ornithology in French

How a bird is identified, counted and tracked.

Practise this list

From these 20 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.

More about this list

The nineteenth entry is la perte d’habitat, and the second noun is the one word on this page an English reader will not think to look up. « Habitat », in English, belongs to wildlife and to nothing else: a species has one, a person does not, and a sentence about somebody’s habitat is either a joke or a mistake. French kept that sense and added a second one that is far commoner in ordinary print. L’habitat is housing, taken as a whole — the building stock of a country, the way people are lodged. So l’habitat collectif is flats, l’habitat individuel is houses, l’habitat ancien is the older stock, l’amélioration de l’habitat is home improvement, and the national body that pays for it is l’Agence nationale de l’habitat. Nothing in any of those is about animals. Here the ecological sense is the one at work, and the safeguard is the company the word keeps: beside une espèce it is a habitat, beside un logement or une commune it is housing.

The words

Noun (m) (12)

Grammar for these: Definite article: le, la, les · Indefinite article: un, une

l’oiseau de première annéethe first-year birdNoun (m)C2
L’oiseau de première année porte encore des plumes usées.The first-year bird is still in worn feathers.
le plumage d’éclipsethe eclipse plumageNoun (m)C2
Le plumage d’éclipse rend le canard méconnaissable en été.Eclipse plumage makes the duck unrecognisable in summer.
le critère de terrainthe field markNoun (m)C2
Le critère de terrain doit tenir à distance et à contre-jour.A field mark has to hold at a distance and against the light.
le vol chantéthe song flightNoun (m)C2
Le vol chanté monte droit au-dessus du champ.The song flight climbs straight up above the field.
le couple nicheurthe breeding pairNoun (m)C2
Le couple nicheur revient au même bosquet.The breeding pair comes back to the same copse.
l’envol des jeunesthe fledging of the youngNoun (m)C2
L’envol des jeunes se joue en quelques jours.The fledging of the young is decided in a few days.
le parasite de couvéethe brood parasiteNoun (m)C2
Le parasite de couvée dépose son œuf dans un nid étranger.The brood parasite lays its egg in another bird’s nest.
le géolocalisateurthe geolocatorNoun (m)C2
Le géolocalisateur ne livre ses données qu’au retour de l’oiseau.The geolocator gives up its data only when the bird returns.
le comptage par transectthe transect countNoun (m)C2
Le comptage par transect suit toujours le même chemin.The transect count always follows the same route.
le comptage par points d’écoutethe point countNoun (m)C2
Le comptage par points d’écoute dure quelques minutes par station.The point count lasts a few minutes at each station.
l’atlas des oiseaux nicheursthe breeding bird atlasNoun (m)C2
L’atlas des oiseaux nicheurs occupe des bénévoles pendant des années.The breeding bird atlas keeps volunteers busy for years.
le programme de nichoirsthe nest box schemeNoun (m)C2
Le programme de nichoirs remplace les vieux arbres creux.The nest box scheme replaces the old hollow trees.

Noun (f) (8)

Grammar for these: Definite article: le, la, les · Indefinite article: un, une

l’allure généralethe overall impressionNoun (f)C2
L’allure générale suffit parfois avant même les couleurs.The overall impression is sometimes enough before any colour is seen.
la rémige primairethe primary flight featherNoun (f)C2
On compte les rémiges primaires sur la photo.The primary flight feathers are counted on the photograph.
la barre alairethe wing barNoun (f)C2
Une barre alaire claire traverse l’aile fermée.A pale wing bar crosses the closed wing.
la halte migratoirethe migratory stopoverNoun (f)C2
La halte migratoire compte autant que le but du voyage.The migratory stopover counts for as much as the end of the journey.
l’invasion d’oiseauxthe irruption (of birds)Noun (f)C2
Une invasion d’oiseaux venus du nord surprend les observateurs.An irruption of birds from the north takes the observers by surprise.
la probabilité de détectionthe detection probabilityNoun (f)C2
La probabilité de détection change avec le vent.Detection probability changes with the wind.
la liste rougethe red listNoun (f)C2
La liste rouge classe les espèces selon le risque.The red list ranks the species by risk.
la perte d’habitatthe habitat lossNoun (f)C2
La perte d’habitat se mesure en surfaces disparues.Habitat loss is measured in surfaces that have gone.

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This list belongs to Natural sciences — 36 lists and 1 287 words that can also be practised as a whole.

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