Special Episode: What's in a Name?

This is the first special episode! These special episodes are a way for us to learn about other aspects of birds and birding. They could be about anything from bird anatomy to why birds migrate to birds v.s. cats. If you have an idea for a new species episode, send your idea in the Special Episodes section of the Carrier Pigeon Corner form. This episode is all about bird names, what we name them, why we name them, and some of the strangest names out there. 

Submit your Carrier Pigeon Corner questions in this form.

Check out the Bird of the Day website, birdofthedaypodcast.com.

Transcript

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Welcome to Bird of the Day. My name is Sam Rogers and I'm a 13-year-old birder from Eugene, Oregon. This is an informative, entertaining podcast about anything and everything birds. This is the first special episode. These special episodes are a way for us to learn about other aspects of birds and birding. These episodes could be about anything from bird anatomy to why birds migrate to birds versus cats. If you have an idea for a new species episode, send your idea in the special episode section of the Carrier Pigeon Corner form. This episode is all about bird names, what we name them, why we name them, and some of the strangest names out there. Maybe in a book, field guide, or just by common knowledge. Names are everywhere. We humans name just about everything, from ourselves to items, ideas, places, foods, and birds. We are compelled to name everything, and so it is only natural that we would name birds. Now in the early 1800s, science was a mess. New naturalists were traveling around and finding what they supposed were new species and naming them. But without one formal way of ordering and naming them, different birds would be named the same thing and the same bird might have different names. It was chaos. It wasn't until Linnaeus created the basic system for ordering species that things got more under control. He created the idea of a species and how to order them in bigger and bigger groups. Now we have over eleven thousand species, and each has a unique name. Most birds are named after an attribute, like where they live, what they eat, what they sound like, or probably the most common, a color. Some examples include the mountain quail, indigo bunting, or chipping sparrow. There are some that are named after more unbirdy things, like the common loon or evening gross beak, and a bunch that are named after cities or places, even if the bird is actually rare there. Like just take the Connecticut warbler, which is only a rare migrant through its home state, or the Nashville warbler, which it's also commonly found across the entire US. And then, even in the descriptive names category, some don't really fit. For example, take the red bellied woodpecker. This is a large black and white woodpecker with a striking red cap. It's a really cool bird. The problem? It doesn't even have a red belly. Okay, maybe it's short of pinkish, but it's very hard to see in the field, and it really shouldn't be its name. The ringnecked duck has the same problem. Its namesake ring is a very hard to see wine colored band around its neck. Or the semi palmated plover. Semipulmated is a very obscure word that just basically means the bird has partial webbing among its toes. But this is basically impossible to see in the field. Of course, for a nineteenth century naturalist with the bird in his hand, it would be a lot easier to discern. And then there are the eponymous bird names. Eponymous just basically means named after a person. Some good non-bird examples include Caesar Salad, Washington, DC, or even saxophone, named after Adolf Sax, a Belgian inventor. In my opinion, these are the worst kind of names. No one wants to see a really cool bird that left an impression on them just to be told it was called a Townsend's warbler or something. Of course, ultra bird nerds would know that John Kirk Townsend was a nineteenth century naturalist who collected many new plant and animal species in the Pacific Northwest. But most people don't know that. And so to most of us, the name Townsend's Warbler means nothing. And to add on to that, Townsend apparently robbed Native American graves and perpetuated the idea of scientific racism. Now you're probably wondering, why don't the great bird name overlords just rename this bird? Well, actually, the American Ornithological Society, or AOS, is planning to do just that. In fact, they're planning on renaming all the eponymous bird names. All of them. Now why don't they just rename some of them, just the bad ones? Because in that scenario, they would just have to go on a case by case basis, and that would take a long time. So they just decided to do away with all of them. Now, this is only for North American birds. The AOS doesn't have control to change names on other continents. But the best part, we might have a say in what these birds get named. The AOS is thinking about using public input to determine the new names. Now this means we have to start thinking about new names for these birds. I've heard some really good ones, like to rename Townsend's Warbler to Hemlock Warbler, because they really like the big western hemlocks in the Pacific Northwest. Or to rename the Brewer's Blackbird to Roadside Blackbird because they like to be on roads a lot. I know some people do not like the idea of changing all these birds' names, but I for one am excited. I can't wait to find out what these new names will be. But for now, let's learn about some of the best, worst, and weirdest bird names out there. Sometimes I don't know what the scientists were thinking when they named some of these birds. So I'll describe a few of my favorite names, a few of the names I think are the worst, and then the names I think are the weirdest. First, the best. Number five on my list for the best names is the Goliath Heron. Now, if you think this is just an exaggeration, no no. The Goliath Heron is no joke. This bird stands almost five feet tall. Just add an eight inch long bill and this becomes a very, very scary bird. All this helps it dominate watering holes and lakes in Central Africa. I know I'm glad I'm not a fish with this bird in the area. Next up the sad flycatcher. This somber bird lives only on the island of Jamaica, where I guess it is always moping around. But luckily there's the happy wren. This joyous little bird is found along the Pacific coast of Mexico, where it sings a high upbeat song to cheer up anyone passing by. Number three is the invisible rail. This bird is very rarely ever seen, only a chosen few who it chooses to grace with its presence. I'm just kidding. In reality, this bird is black with a red bill and legs. I think is named for its habit of living only in dense, impenetrable swamps in Indonesia. But it's not really invisible. Number two is the shining sunbeam. This is actually a hummingbird, not a beam of light, but does have a cool patch of rainbow feathers on its rump. Other than that, it's just sort of brownish. That amazing name makes up for the mediocre appearance, though. This bird is found in the Andes, where it feeds on flower nectar and bugs. Finally, arguably the best name out there, the hyacinth visor bearer. No, this is not the title of some ancient royal knight from a fictional kingdom. Instead, it is a hummingbird. This is a beautiful little hummingbird with a dazzling combo of blue, black, and green. The word hyacinth is a reference to the flowers, and the color is sort of a purplish blue hue. This bird does have some blue purple in its plumage. So I see the reason for the name. This is one of the coolest bird names I've ever seen, and I hope to see the bird someday. Now the worst. These names either don't make sense, are inaccurate, or are just kind of bad. First the drab seed eater. This poor bird seems like it got named for the lack of anything interesting about it. In fact, it's just plainly colored. This bird lives on the Pacific slope of the Andes mountain range, where it eats grass seeds. Next up, the forty spotted partilope. Yes, you heard me correctly, that was forty, four zero. So first of all, I didn't even know birds could have forty spots, and I feel bad for the scientists who had to count them all. But yes, if you count all the white spots on the wings, there are basically forty, twenty on each side. And believe me, I counted. Sadly, this little bird lives only on the island of Tasmania and it is endangered. Hopefully this little bird will keep on surviving. Next up, the Connecticut Warbler. You might be wondering what's so bad about this bird. Well, it does not live in Connecticut. Only rarely during migration does it stop by on its way to Central America. But it is not easy to find. This bird got its name because some nineteenth century naturalist shot a bird first in Connecticut, and so it's got its name after that state. I just want to congratulate them for finding such a good bird. Finally, the worst bird name out there. The olive warbler. Yep, another warbler. And this time it is also named for what it is not. This bird is not olive, nor is it a warbler. And no, it does not eat olives either. This is a gray and orange bird that lives in Central America and southern Arizona. It was a warbler in the family Perulidae with our good friend the Connecticut warbler, but now it is in its own family because scientists don't really know what to do with it. Apparently there is a little bit of olive where the orange head meets the body, but this was clearly a bad name. Finally, the weirdest names. I've picked five names that are weird, funny, or some of both. First, the gray go away bird. Yes, this is a real bird. It is named after its call, which apparently sounds like someone saying go away. You can decide for yourself whether it's accurate. I think it just sounds like a crying baby. This bird can be found across much of southern Africa. Next up, the inaccessible island rail. Somehow scientists were able to find and name this bird, despite its island apparently being inaccessible. In reality, it just lives on a tiny island in the southern Atlantic Ocean. This is actually a super cute bird. The inaccessible island rail's claim to fame is that it is the smallest flightless bird in the world. It is like almost the size of a mouse. You're gonna have to go out of your way to see one though. Because first you must take a seven day voyage from South Africa to the main island of Tristan de Cuna, and from there you must secure official permission from the government, and then charter a local fishing or research vessel to reach the island and attempt to land. It's basically a giant rock in the middle of the ocean, so good luck. Our next bird is also a rail. This time the snoring rail. Yes, this exists. I'll bet the naming committee had a laugh over that one. This bird is a little more accessible. It lives on the island of Suluesi in Indonesia. This bird apparently snores, but I don't know. The only recordings I can find are of barely audible grunts. If you plan to go and find this bird, make sure to bring earplugs because you might have a hard time sleeping. Next up, the cisticulas. This is a group of fifty species, and a lot of them have really weird or funny names, so I thought I would combine them. Cisticulas are small grassland birds of Africa, Asia, and Australia that are colored much like their home. They look very similar to each other, and I have a feeling scientists were just having a hard time trying to find something new about each bird, and so they gave up. So, in desperation, they gave them odd names. Just take the bubbling cisticola, chub cisticola, rock-loving cisticola, tinkling cisticola, wailing cisticola, chirping cisticola, winding cisticola, stout cisticola, croaking cisticola, sifling cisticola, foxy cisticola, zitting cisticola, cloud cisticola, or the wing snapping cisticola. Those are all real. I mean come on, scientist, you couldn't do better than rock-loving cisticola. But anyway, we have finally come to the last bird. The oleogenist hemisphingus. Yes, that is the common name of a real bird. The scientific name is actually easier to say. Sphenopsis frontalis. It sounds like some horrible virus or obscure bone or something, but it's just a small drab tanager from South America. There is a small group of birds with the common name hemisphingus, and this one is named because of its oily colored plumage. Just make sure not to confuse it with the superciliarid hemisphingus or the drab hemisphingus. So that was the best, worst, and the weirdest bird names out there. Of course, there is so much more, and so we need some honorable mentions. Shout out to the Trumpet Manu Code, Predicted Ant Wren, King of Saxony Bird of Paradise, Wangy Wangy White Eye, Mysterious Starling, Monotonous Lark, Satanic Night Jar, and its counterpart, the celestial monarch, and the melancholy woodpecker with its counterpart, the joyful green bull. It was really, really hard to pick birds to talk about today because there's so many good ones out there. My favorite is definitely the hyacinth visor bearer. What's yours? Thanks for listening to this special episode. I had a lot of fun making it, and I never knew there were so many weird bird names out there. I hope you enjoyed this episode and learned something. If you have a bird you think I should add to the list, or if you want to tell me what your favorite bird name is, just email me at bird of the daypodcast at gmail.com. I'll see you in the next episode.