whistler

whistler: see marmot.

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goldeneye

 or whistler

Either of two species of small, yellow-eyed diving ducks that produce a whistling sound with their rapidly beating wings. The common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) breeds throughout the Northern Hemisphere; Barrow's goldeneye (B. islandica) breeds primarily in northwestern North America and Iceland. Both winter mainly in northern coastal waters. Both are about 18 in. (46 cm) long and have a black back marked with white, white sides and breast, and conspicuous white patches in front of the eyes. The head of the common is dark green; that of the Barrow's is purplish black. Both nest in tree cavities and prefer a diet of aquatic invertebrates. They are prized as game birds.

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Whistler

James Abbott McNeill. 1834--1903, US painter and etcher, living in Europe. He is best known for his sequence of nocturnes and his portraits

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whistler [′wis·lər]

(geophysics)

An effect that occurs when a plasma disturbance, caused by a lightning discharge, travels out along lines of magnetic force of the earth's field and is reflected back to its origin from a magnetically conjugate point on the earth's surface; the disturbance may be picked up electromagnetically and converted directly to sound; the characteristic drawn-out descending pitch of the whistler is a dispersion effect due to the greater velocity of the higher-frequency components of the disturbance.