whimbrel

Uncertain. Perhaps from whimper +‎ -el, alluding to the sound of its cry.

• IPA^(key): /ˈʍɪmbɹɜl/ (in accents without the wine–whine merger)

whimbrel (plural whimbrels)

European subspecies of whimbrel Numenius phaeopus phaeopus

1. A large migratory wading bird, Numenius phaeopus, of the family Scolopacidae, with a long downcurved bill.
   • 1876, "Burmah" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 552:

     Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Flotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises.