[colonelboris]

Is there a good book on how birds were originally named? I've seen a very good one one who some were named after and about those people, but though it'd be interesting to know what the names meant, if anything.

[tom24]

Try 'British Birds,their Folklore,Names and Literature' by Francesca Greenoak.
Published by Helm.
Tom.

[colonelboris]

Thanks!

[Jack Daw]

Originally Posted by colonelboris

Is there a good book on how birds were originally named? I've seen a very good one one who some were named after and about those people, but though it'd be interesting to know what the names meant, if anything.

As an alternative to the previous suggestion you could also try Biographies for Birdwatchers; The Lives of Those Commemorated in Western Paleartic Bird Names by
Barbarbara and Richard Mearns
ISBN 0-12-487422-3 Published by Academic Press
For example some fascinating info. on Francesco Cetti, Edward Sabine, Paolo Savi not an Italian Forward ! Peter Simon Pallas James Clark Ross and Henry Morris Upcher.
Cheers Jack

[London Birder]

'All the Birds of the Air' by Francesca (sic) Greenoak is along those lines and is a good one to dip into.

[tom24]

Originally Posted by London Birder

'All the Birds of the Air' by Francesca (sic) Greenoak is along those lines and is a good one to dip into.

I think that's the same one as i mentioned...yep, its original title was the above,(so's not to cause confusion).
Tom.

[London Birder]

sorry tom, skipped through a bit, may well be the same.

[Rick Wright, Tucson]

http://www.birdsofbritain.co.uk/features/bird-names.htm

http://www.bottlebrushpress.com/brit...meorigins.html

http://www.bottlebrushpress.com/noamericanorigins.html

http://www.origins.tv/darwin/zoo/AOUmenu.htm

http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Wilson/...0130-p0142.pdf

http://www.fatbirder.net/links/ornit..._taxonomy.html

http://www.pupress.princeton.edu/chapters/i8271.pdf

Andrew, P. 1998. Nomina Global Bird Dictionary: Relational Taxonomies. CSIRO Publications, Collingwood, Australia.

Beolens, Bo. 2003. Whose Bird: Men and Women Commemorated in the Common Names of Birds. Christopher Helm, London.

Bock, W.J. 1994. History and Nomenclature of Avian Family-Group Names. American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Borror, D. 1969. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms: Compiled from the Greek, Latin, and Other Languages, with Special Reference to Biological Terms and Scientific Names. National Press, .

Capponi, F. 1979. Ornithologia Latina. Istituto di filologia classica e medievale, Genoa.

Choate, E.A. 1973. The Dictionary of American Bird Names. Gambit, Boston.

Choate, E.A. 1985. The Dictionary of American Bird Names. 2d ed., revised R.A. Paynter, Jr. Harvard Common Press, Boston.

Coble, M.F., and C.S. Life. 1932. Introduction to Ornithological Nomenclature. Wm. B. Straube Printing Company, Los Angeles.

Ellis, J. 2003. Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Common and Scientific Names. Timber Press, .

Gotch, A.F. 1981. Birds: Their Latin Names Explained. Blandford Press, New York.

Gotch, A.F. 1995. Latin Names Explained: A Guide to the Scientific Classification of Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals. Blandford Press, London.

Jobling, J.A. 1991. A Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Lockwood, W.B. 1984. The Oxford Book of British Bird Names. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Mearns, B., and R. Mearns. 1988. Biographies for Birdwatchers: The Lives of Those Commemorated in Western Palearctic Bird Names. Academic Press, San Diego.

Mearns, B., and R. Mearns. 1992. Audubon to Xantus: The Lives of Those Commemorated in North American Bird Names. Academic Press, 1992.

[colonelboris]

Wow, thanks for those, everyone.
I'll see if I can get hold of some of those. This one should be interesting:

Originally Posted by Rick Wright

Gotch, A.F. 1981. Birds: Their Latin Names Explained. Blandford Press, New York.

as I often try to work out what the latin means, too.

[brianfm]

Found this interesting, especially the list of titles from Rick. I can confirm the 'Biographies For Birdwatchers' Mearns is an excellent book. I haven't read the Audubon to Xantus yet as I am busy on another Mearns book 'The Bird Collectors'. Another excellent book. Sorry I drift a little from your initial point but it is related. I must admit I will be checking out some of these books related to Latin names as I would like some background myself.

Cheers