What does wildfowler mean?
A wildfowler is someone who hunts wild birds, especially game birds. The term is chiefly British and has a literary, historical, or traditional sporting tone, so it may suggest an experienced hunter with detailed knowledge of birds and their habitats. It is related to the older word fowler and to the activity of fowling, which can involve hunting game birds for sport. The compound wildfowler emphasizes that the birds hunted are wild rather than domesticated or artificially reared. Although it can describe a person who hunts birds as an occupation or pastime, modern usage is more often literary or nostalgic than practical. In modern birding contexts, the closely related term wildfowling usually refers to the sport or activity itself, while a bird watcher observes birds without generally hunting them. The word is also easily confused with wildflower, but its subject is a hunter rather than a plant.
nounA person who hunts wild birds, especially game birds. The word is chiefly literary or historical and often refers to someone who hunts for sport.
- A person who hunts wild birds, especially game birds.
"The old wildfowler set out before dawn with a shotgun and a bag of game."
"A celebrated wildfowler, he knew the habits of the birds and the cries that accompanied them."
"The passage describes the wildfowler moving silently along the edge of the marsh."
The regular plural is wildfowlers.
"The wildfowers gathered at the estate before the hunting season began."
Wildfowler is a hunter of birds, not a flower: the word preserves the older sporting sense of the English word fowler.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of wildfowler
Wildfowler is an English compound formed by combining wild with the older noun fowler, a hunter of birds. Fowler is historically connected with Old English *fugol*, the ancestor of modern fowl, and with the longer-standing activity of fowling. The compound nature of the word reflects the distinction between hunting wild birds and hunting birds kept in confinement.
Related word forms
How wildfowler is actually used
Chiefly British and now somewhat literary or historical. It has a traditional sporting or rural association and can suggest someone who hunts wild birds professionally or for pleasure.
Easily confused with wildfowler
A wildfowler is a person who hunts wild birds, whereas a wildflower is a plant that grows without cultivation.