Cryptic
Camouflaging. Cryptic colouration and patterning of adult birds, eggs and young is well seen in many ground-nesting species, for example the Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula and the Woodcock Scolopax rusticola. The term opposite in meaning to 'cryptic' is 'phaneric', which essentially means 'advertising'. In most of the ducks (family Anatidae), for example, the plumage of the males is phaneric for use in display, whereas that of the females is cryptic to conceal them during incubation.From Peter Weaver's Birdwatcher's Dictionary
Copyright © 1981 by Peter Weaver