snowbird Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun medium-sized Eurasian thrush seen chiefly in winter
    fieldfare; Turdus pilaris.
  2. noun white Arctic bunting
    Plectrophenax nivalis; snowflake; snow bunting.
  3. noun small North American finch seen chiefly in winter
    junco.

WordNet

Snow"bird noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) (a) An arctic finch (Plectrophenax, ∨ Plectrophanes, nivalis) common, in winter, both in Europe and the United States, and often appearing in large flocks during snowstorms. It is partially white, but variously marked with chestnut and brown. Called also snow bunting, snowflake, snowfleck, and snowflight. (b) Any finch of the genus Junco which appears in flocks in winter time, especially J. hyemalis in the Eastern United States; -- called also blue snowbird. See Junco. (c) The fieldfare. Prov. Eng.

Webster 1913