feathered friend

plural feathered friends

1. idiomaticA bird.

   The illustrations accompanying this week's "Notes of a Naturalist in Western Australia" show two of the conspicuous "feathered friends" which he describes.

   1890 April 12, The Australasian, Melbourne, page 39, column 4

   1 more example

   This little family is said to live together on the most affectionate terms. The feline part of it are so 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑛𝑑 of their feathered friends, that they are almost ready 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑢𝑝.

   1805 May 5, The Sydney Gazette, page 3, column 2