The story
Variant of earlier amadavat, from Ahmedabad, city in Gujarat, India, from which the bird was imported to Europe.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
avadavat
Today it means: Any of various estrildid finches of the genus Amandava, especially the red avadavat, Amandava amandava, of India and Southeast Asia, commonly kept and bred as a cagebird; also known as Java sparrow. Full definition →