How to Use plumage in a Sentence

plumage

noun
Definition of plumagenext
  • The peacock has colorful plumage.
  • But look closely, and the plumage on the right has a bit more reddish-brown saturation.
    — Melanie Stetson Freeman, The Christian Science Monitor, 5 July 2024
  • In the winter, their mottled brown feathers give way to snowy white plumage, which helps camouflage them against the powder.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 July 2024
  • Researchers said the formation of the river likely forced the birds to maintain separate populations, and over millions of years their songs and plumage changed.
    — Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 25 June 2024
  • Its plumage thus would have been black, with the same shiny sheen as a crow's.
    — Jakob Vinther, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2017
  • In two places, the bird had pure white feathers among the scaled gray plumage.
    — Anchorage Daily News, 8 May 2021
  • The ptarmigan are white; their plumage is controlled by the length of the day, not cold.
    — John Schandelmeier, Alaska Dispatch News, 4 Oct. 2017
  • Its plumage isn’t the flashiest, and its song isn’t the most elaborate.
    — Dino Grandoni, Anchorage Daily News, 25 Aug. 2023
  • Trees still remain with full green plumage even near the blast.
    — Merrie Monteagudo, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 July 2021
  • Using his tongue, the parrot holds the small stone in place to preen his plumage.
    — David Kindy, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Sep. 2021
  • Green plumage, the color of Islam, fluttered in the air.
    — Mehdi Fattahi, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 Aug. 2022
  • The male’s black-and-white plumage can seem more constrained, like a tuxedo.
    — National Geographic, 4 Aug. 2020
  • They had been brought from the south, and were fine adult birds in excellent plumage.
    — Discover Magazine, 18 Jan. 2013
  • The vivid-hued plumage blew in every direction in the wind.
    — Janice Wald Henderson, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Feb. 2023
  • At one point his face was obscured by the red plumage atop his aunt Princess Anne’s hat.
    — Karla Adam, Washington Post, 6 May 2023
  • The change in plumage from a drab olive color in the winter to bright yellow in the summer is a sight to see.
    — John Heasly, USA TODAY, 6 July 2023
  • Its black plumage is striking against its deep red bill.
    — Brenda Yenke, cleveland, 13 Jan. 2022
  • The brown booby is a large warm-water species with brown plumage and a white belly.
    — Lola Fadulu, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2023
  • Puffs of the music’s emotional plumage can stay lodged in your head for years.
    — Mina Tavakoli, Washington Post, 17 Jan. 2023
  • Black vultures sport dark, black-and-gray plumage with a bald, grayish-black head.
    — René A. Guzman, ExpressNews.com, 22 Sep. 2020
  • The male reared his head toward the fledgling, the breeze gently tugging at their plumage.
    — Alexander Aciman, The New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2021
  • The males are unmistakable with their black, white and rose plumage.
    — Taylor Piephoff, charlotteobserver, 4 Apr. 2018
  • Bald eagles attain full adult plumage in their fourth or fifth year and can live for decades.
    — Barry Amundson, Twin Cities, 9 Mar. 2017
  • Sometimes, the bird’s plumage ignites, and it may be left suffering on the ground.
    — Carolyn Wilke, New York Times, 29 June 2022
  • The birds have white plumage, often with black barring, and yellow eyes.
    — Fox News, 4 July 2018
  • Anti-plumage campaigns at the turn of the 20th century stopped that.
    — Nina Burleigh, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2020
  • The monkeys stare out as if caught by surprise, as does a bird with turquoise, crimson and gray plumage.
    — Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2022
  • And for some species, male and female plumage is identical to the human eye.
    — Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 July 2023
  • Their bodies were still snow white, but their necks were beginning to show the first brown of spring plumage.
    — Seth Kantner, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Apr. 2023
  • The fossil shows that a feather of the mystery fossil’s size and shape would have fit into the wing’s plumage.
    — Ryan Carney, National Geographic, 30 Sep. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'plumage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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