What the..........?

[Darren Oakley-Martin]

As a relative novice I'm often confused by bird nicknames, such as Leo, for instance, (took me ages to work that one out), but for 3 days days now I've been stumped by PG TIPS- I've even done a google search but to no avail, so I'm just going to have to show myself up as the dumbass I undoubtedly am. I've been down the Pacific Golden route....no, no............Pallas Grasshopper, uh-uh, Pere-Grine...don't be silly Darren, so PLEASE SOMEONE PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY!!

[Colin]

Hi Darrenom,
No, you are not a dumbass. Some bits of slang are just not obvious. PG Tips = Pallas's Grasshopper Warbler. Anyway, that is one of the great things of BirdForum - if you have a question, just ask and there are lots of experts around and someone will know the answer.

This thread might help

www.birdforum.net/printthread.php?t=7500

You will have to page down it to find a list of abbreviations.

[Darren Oakley-Martin]

Aaaaaaaaaahh, clear as mud, thank you Colin. And thanks for the thread!

[Tim Allwood]

Aaaaaaaaaahh, clear as mud, thank you Colin. And thanks for the thread!

the etymology (think that's the right word) is PG from Pallas's Grasshopper and the tips refers to the tail pattern and was conveniently a popular brand of tea (PG tips) in the seventies

[SimonC]

the etymology (think that's the right word) is PG from Pallas's Grasshopper and the tips refers to the tail pattern and was conveniently a popular brand of tea (PG tips) in the seventies

That's exactly how I understood it anyway!

[Grousemore]

This type of specialised terminology is common in many sports/pastimes and is often associated with an intention to create a kind of exclusivity,thus, in birding parlance,to isolate the 'dudes'.

[very boring banned member]

Why don't you use scientific names? Aren't they made just for this? (I did not find GBH from the list).

[Tim Allwood]

I try to use latin binomials as much as possible (more with overseas species) Karwin but you'd end up sounding a right arse using them in the field in UK.

I've always wished nfor standardised English names but the birders blew that one out of the water

[very boring banned member]

I try to use latin binomials as much as possible (more with overseas species) Karwin but you'd end up sounding a right arse using them in the field in UK.

I've always wished nfor standardised English names but the birders blew that one out of the water
I prefer scientific names for two reason:
-internationality (not all members have english as their mother tongue, but all they have scientific names in their bird books)
-precision (eg robin means different bird on every continent)
I know it may sound "right arse", but thinking of it, isn't that kind of attitude rather .. eh, childish?

[robinm]

I think context is important here. If you are in UK with a group of British birders then to use scientific names or, for example, call a bird European Robin is unnecessarily complicated and, yes, you would feel a "right arse".

Equally, on a board such as this it is usually better to use the full English name and/or scientific name where confusion might arise.

[digi-birder]

I started a thread on this very topic before - see HERE (http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=10032)

[Darren Oakley-Martin]

So does asking this question make me a 'dude' then? And when does a beginner/novice cease to be a dude and become a fully-fledged member of the birdwatching fraternity?! Yours, a little affronted.

[SimonC]

So does asking this question make me a 'dude' then? And when does a beginner/novice cease to be a dude and become a fully-fledged member of the birdwatching fraternity?! Yours, a little affronted.

Darren

I think you're only a dude if:

You only go birding when the weather is fine & you wont get your bright orange coat damp
You can only identify a very few "common" birds.
When you have identified a bird but been corrected by another birder, you get huffy
And so on.............


On the other hand, not knowing the (stupid) knicknames of certain birds means you fall into the category of: Non-twitcher, Which is a good thing in my book ;)


BTW, this reply was made very much "tongue in cheek" so please don't anyone take offence!

[digi-birder]

So does asking this question make me a 'dude' then? And when does a beginner/novice cease to be a dude and become a fully-fledged member of the birdwatching fraternity?! Yours, a little affronted.

Not at all, Darren. I asked the question myself because, although I understand or can work out some of the terms used, there are some abbreviations used by the more experienced birders that I don't understand. I raised the subject because I was concerned that beginners on the site may not understand any of them and therefore may have difficulty following the discussions, as your original post obviously indicated, even causing you to go searching on the Internet.

As I obviously have a slight failing in this area, perhaps that means that I am not yet a fully-fledged member of the birdwatching fraternity!

[SimonC]

I prefer scientific names for two reason:
-internationality (not all members have english as their mother tongue, but all they have scientific names in their bird books)
-precision (eg robin means different bird on every continent)
I know it may sound "right arse", but thinking of it, isn't that kind of attitude rather .. eh, childish?

Karwin,

I think i have to agree with you on the use of scientific names on forums such as this, as you rightly point out, not everybody here has english as their first language.
Not only that, but even "common" english names can vary. Example: someone on another thread refered to a "Yaffle", & I would bet that not everyone would know that was Picus viridis in certain parts of Britain.

BUT on the other hand, if I was out birding with my mates and said that I had found, say, a Saxicola torquata I know I'd be in danger of getting a punch up the throat for being a smart-arse! ;)

So, yes, scientific names do have their place, but that place is not, unfortunately, in the field (at least not in this country ;) )

[Darren Oakley-Martin]

Thank you all, I may be a dude on a friday night with my bright orange Prada-styley t-shirt, but I sure aint at weekends. And I know my Grawbs from my PG Tips now! Yippee!!

[very boring banned member]

BUT on the other hand, if I was out birding with my mates and said that I had found, say, a Saxicola torquata I know I'd be in danger of getting a punch up the throat for being a smart-arse! ;)

Saxicola torquata may sound also in finnish field as smart-arse, but then again if you called it just Saxicola or torquata (depending on situation), it will be just as fine as mustapäätasku. I've just tired of even biologists, who don't have a clue over scientific names (I'm not a biologist), and when explaining my garden birds to english or northamerican birders, I never remember is it diver or loon ;)

As Darrenom, I sometimes have difficulties in understanding nickames. LEO has two nicknames in Finland: "sarvari" (officially sarvipöllö) & "otus".

[Bluetail]

Please keep posting your Latin names, Karwin. I find it a good discipline to try to remember them. You've made me realise that I don't know them half as well as I thought I did!

Jason

[Michael Frankis]

BUT on the other hand, if I was out birding with my mates and said that I had found, say, a Saxicola torquata I know I'd be in danger of getting a punch up the throat for being a smart-arse! ;)
But there again, you might get questions asked about why you're recording an African bird . . . with the now-widely accepted split (by just about everyone except the BOU) of African Stonechat Saxicola torquata and European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola . . . . ;)

Michael

[Steve G]

But there again, you might get questions asked about why you're recording an African bird . . . with the now-widely accepted split (by just about everyone except the BOU) of African Stonechat Saxicola torquata and European Stonechat Saxicola rubicola . . . . ;)

Michael
.......punch up the throat for being a smart-arse! ;)

[very boring banned member]

I first learned the scientific names as I was a kid & interested in nature, using all kinds of id guides having (besides finnish names) those scientific names - they came quite easily without actively trying to learn them.

Of the last decades twitcho-splitting: I don't quite swallow them - I do not find point in separating eg Larus michahellis from L argentatus, when they only can be identified with microscope (by DNA). In a week I'm going to be in Thailand: the newest id guide just tells that I can't idenfy L heuglini from L argentatus in the field...

[SimonC]

.......punch up the throat for being a smart-arse! ;)

Thanks Steve, saved me the trouble!

Michael, Gimme a break! I was at work with only the interweb as reference, and you know how outdated that is! ;)