windhover

windhover [wind-huhv-er, -hov-] ExamplesWord Origin noun

1. the kestrel, Falco tinnunculus.

Origin of windhover 1665–75; wind1 + hover; from its hovering flight, head to the wind Examples from the Web for windhover Historical Examples of windhover

But the greatest of all exponents in the art of hovering is the kestrel, known also, for this very reason, as the “windhover.”

Birds in Flight

W. P. Pycraft

The kestrel or windhover acts in quite a different fashion to the sparrow-hawk.

Poachers and Poaching

John Watson

As illustrating a remarkable quality of flight, the case of the kestrel or windhover may be taken.

Poachers and Poaching

John Watson

British Dictionary definitions for windhover windhover noun

1. British a dialect name for a kestrel

Word Origin and History for windhover n.

“kestrel,” 1670s, from wind (n.1) + hover; so called from the bird’s habit of hovering in the wind. An earlier name for it was windfucker (1590s).