sheldrake

A noun referring to a type of large, crested, fish-eating diving duck with a slender hooked bill, or an Old World gooselike duck with variegated black-and-white plumage and a red bill.

• 🇫🇷Nom désignant un grand canard plongeur à huppe et au bec fin et crochu, piscivore, ou un canard de l'Ancien Monde ressemblant à une oie, au plumage noir et blanc contrasté et au bec rouge.

1. Merganser duck C1 formal scientific

   A large, crested, fish-eating diving duck with a slender, hooked bill that has serrated edges, adapted for catching fish.

   • The sheldrake dove swiftly into the lake to catch a fish.
   • Ornithologists observed the sheldrake's unique serrated bill in action.
   • A pair of sheldrakes nested near the riverbank this spring.

   🇫🇷Harle (canard pêcheur)

   Synonymes: mergansersawbill

2. Common shelduck C1 formal british scientific

   An Old World gooselike duck, slightly larger than a mallard, with variegated mostly black-and-white plumage and a red bill.

   • The sheldrake is a common sight in coastal wetlands across Europe.
   • With its striking black-and-white feathers and red bill, the sheldrake is easy to identify.
   • A flock of sheldrakes flew overhead, their calls echoing across the marsh.

   🇫🇷Tadorne de Belon

   Synonymes: shelduck

• sheldrakes plural form
• sheldrakes' possessive plural form
• sheldrake's possessive singular form