songbird

song +‎ bird

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɒŋˌbɜːd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔŋˌbɝd/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑŋˌbɝd/

songbird (plural songbirds)

1. A bird having a melodious song or call.
   • 1976, Electric Light Orchestra, Rockaria!:

     Sweet little lady sings like a songbird / And she sings the opera like you ain't never heard

2. Any bird in the passerine suborder Passeri, which are distinguished by a more sophisticated vocal apparatus.

   Synonym: oscine

3. (idiomatic, by extension) A person, especially a woman, with a melodious voice.

• songster (male), songstress (female)

• Asian songbird crisis

• Birdsong, bird song, birdsong