Meanings
plural megaticks
- slangbird watchingA greatly desirable addition to the list of birds one has seen, usually because it is rare or seldom seen.
They all looked as if they walked the Pennine Way for a megatick before breakfast.
2000, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Birds, Volume 18, page 1282 more examples
Megacrex is surely a megatick! I know of only two birders who have seen this bird, and thus I had no expectation of seeing it myself during a trip to New Guinea...
1992, American Birding Association, Birding, Volumes 24-25, page 69Birders come here to look for Finch's francolin, Congo moor chat and black- chinned weaver, among others. Other 'megaticks' include the distinctive black-collared bulbul, Petit's cuckoo-shrike, Salvadori's eremomela, yellow-bellied hyliota, Joanna's sunbird, the sought-after black-headed bee-eater and Ludher's bush shrike.
2003, Sophie Warne, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe, page 30
Origin
From mega- + tick (as in ticking off species on a checklist).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
megatick. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megatick
“megatick.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megatick. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “megatick,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megatick.
Source: megatick on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.