kate
n. countable C2 Proficiency US //ˈkeɪt// kate
n. a bird that is part of the crow family. In some parts of the UK, people use this name for a magpie or a jackdaw.
n. a colloquial or dialectal name for certain birds in the corvid family, specifically the magpie or jackdaw. Often used in regional British English.
The old farmer called the magpie a Kate.
While walking through the northern countryside, we heard the locals referring to the noisy jackdaws as Kates.
The use of 'Kate' to describe a magpie is a surviving example of regional folk-taxonomies that assign human names to common garden birds.
Usage
Typically used as a proper noun in dialectal speech; often capitalised.