A genus of Australian wading birds; sometimes called mudlarks or magpie-larks, they have long legs and walk along muddy shores.
From Latin 'grallae' (stilts, stilt-walkers) + '-ina' (feminine suffix for genus names). This scientific name was given to an Australian bird genus by naturalists who recognized its stilt-walker characteristics.
It's striking that Australian mudlarks received a Latin name meaning 'stilt-walkers'—proving that the long-legged wading bird body plan was so recognizable that naturalists independently described it the same way across cultures.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.