plumage

Meanings

1. 1noununcountable

   All the feathers that cover a bird, considered together as a whole.

   Grammar: Uncountable: you say 'the bird's plumage' or 'a bird with bright plumage', not 'a plumage' or 'plumages'.

   Patterns

   • the plumage of a bird
   • a bird's plumage
   • bright/dull plumage

   The male peacock has spectacular plumage that it spreads during courtship.

   After molting, the bird's plumage looked dull and patchy until new feathers grew in.

2. 2noununcountable

   The particular color and pattern of a bird's feathers, especially when used to identify species or sex.

   Grammar: Still uncountable, but often used with descriptive adjectives: 'breeding plumage', 'winter plumage'.

   Patterns

   • breeding plumage
   • winter plumage
   • juvenile plumage

   Many ducks lose their bright breeding plumage in late summer and become much harder to identify.

   The female's brownish plumage provides excellent camouflage against the forest floor.

Common combinations

breeding plumage

In spring, the male warbler develops its bright breeding plumage to attract a mate.

winter plumage

The bird's winter plumage is much paler than its summer colors.

colorful plumage

Parrots are known for their colorful plumage.

plumage color

The plumage color of the two subspecies is slightly different.

Synonyms and how they differ

feathers

The everyday word for the individual structures; 'plumage' is more formal and refers to all of them together as a covering.

down

Refers specifically to the soft, fluffy feathers underneath the outer feathers, not the whole covering.

Word family

plumaged adjective

Having feathers of a specified kind, as in 'brightly plumaged'.

Commonly confused: plumage or plumb?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “plumage”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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