aplomado falcon

noun

aplo·​ma·​do falcon ˌä-plō-ˈmä-dō- 

variants or Aplomado falcon

: a medium-sized gray falcon (Falco femoralis) that has a black band across the belly and a white stripe over each eye, and that is found in grasslands, deserts, and savannahs from the southwestern United States to South America but is now rare in its northern range

Gyrfalcons and the endangered aplomado falcon are known to hoard food only during the breeding season.

—Scott Weidensaul, Bird Watcher's Digest, November/December 1991

Word History

Etymology

Spanish aplomado "lead-colored," from past participle of aplomar "to make leaden, make plumb," from a- (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + -plomar, derivative of plomo "lead," going back to Latin plumbum

First Known Use

circa 1873, in the meaning defined above

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