12 February 04

Bird Names

Some names for birds seem perfectly obvious: red-bellied woodpecker, for instance, gives a fairly detailed description of the bird, while hoopoe approximates its name. Thanks to Richard for drawing my attention to the meaning of the word “phainopepla,” which is the only species of silky flycatcher found in North America. It comes from the Greek meaning “shining gown,” which is a great name for this beautiful bird. “Pyrrhuloxia” means flame-colored plus crossed (oblique) bill.

The names I like best, though, are the “descriptive” ones that aren’t helpful at all. The yellow belly on a yellow-bellied sapsucker is really a stretch. The bristles on the thighs of a bristle-thighed curlew are NOT a good field mark…

Posted by at 08:05 PM in Nature and Place | Link |
  1. Pica and Numenius, I discovered this article in the SMH on one of Australia’s rarest birds called “Coxens double-eyed fig-parrot”. great name isn’t it? Here are the references if you are interested:
    SMH Article:
    http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/02/12/1076548145118.html
    and Birds Australia:
    http://www.birdsaustralia.com.au/birds/coxens.html

    — Jenny    13. February 2004, 00:39    Link
  2. I wonder why they call them “double-eyed.” Aren’t ALL birds double-eyed?

    — Lorianne    13. February 2004, 03:40    Link
  3. Some ramblings on bird names:

    One of my favourite descriptive bird names is Wheatear, which stems from the old English for white arse! Although lacking the etymological pedigree of, say, Phainopepla, it does capture the essence of this bird, whose presence is often first detected when it takes flight, displaying its conspicuous white rump.

    Birders often use colloquial names for birds.
    Descriptive names range from the sublime (Angelhawk for the elegant White-tailed Kite) to the ridiculous (long-suffering inhabitants of seaside towns refer to the ubiquitous Herring Gulls as ‘Shitehawks’).

    Abbreviations of long-winded bird names are also popular: Ferruginous Duck becomes Fudge Duck, while Bicolored and Tricolored Blackbirds become Bikes and Trikes. A favourite of mine is ‘PGTips’: as well as being a popular brand of tea in the UK, this is shorthand for Pallas’s Grasshopper Warbler. The ‘Tips’ refer to the pale tips to the tail and flight feathers, crucial in separating this species from other Grasshopper Warblers.

    — richard    13. February 2004, 10:54    Link
  4. This is a very interesting discussion.

    I would like to weigh in that one of the all-time worst bird names is Ring-necked Duck. I have never observed this feature on a live bird, but have examined museum specimens in which the “ring-neck” is still very obscure. Why not “Ring-billed Duck”, a description which fits this bird like a glove?

    My two cents!

    Kevin

    — Kevin Guse    13. February 2004, 15:13    Link
  5. On the otherhand, the Magnificent Hummingbird says it all!

    Linda

    — Linda Loo    13. February 2004, 18:57    Link

  6. Theres the RUDDY TURNSTONE a type of shorebird


    — Flu-Bird    28. January 2009, 23:53    Link

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