A small European bird (the great tit) with black and white coloring that resembles coal dust, or historically, a mouse found in coal mines.
Coal + mouse. Refers either to the bird's dark, coal-like plumage, or to mice that infested coal storage areas. The term is primarily British and somewhat archaic.
The coalmouse (great tit) is actually incredibly clever—it learned to open milk bottles at British doorsteps by watching other birds, showing adaptation faster than we often give wild animals credit for!
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