Dictionary of English Bird Names (1 Viewer)

[James Jobling]

Intermittently I am working on a 'Dictionary of English Bird Names'. Eugene Eisenmann in his 'The Species of Middle American Birds' (1955) laid the foundations for the English names of Neotropical birds. His anathema towards eponyms was legendary, and I am trying to recall a doggerel rhyme related to me years ago which went something like,

"There was a young birder named Gene
Who on eponyms vented his spleen.
Temminck and Kittlitz
Were both on his hitlitz,
And Pallas should never be seen." ANON.

Do any old birders remember the exact words of this clerihew?

 

[mb1848]

A clerihew is supposedly

1. a short comic or nonsensical verse, typically in two rhyming couplets with lines of unequal length and referring to a famous person.
   I think your poem is a Limerick, five lines?
   
   
   Late ornithologist François Vuilleumier said about Gene Eisenmann:
   
   Arguments pro and con of a given classification scheme were then discussed avidly, often pursued later over a meal. Characteristically, Gene would present both sides of an argument in an equally favorable light and would draw you skillfully into taking a position, which he would then rebut. Your own thoughts on a given matter had better be crystal clear, otherwise Gene's sharp mind would quickly detect the flaws in your logic and expose them. Clearly, his training as a lawyer had prepared him to deal with biological ideas in a different, but provocative way. (I think about his being Harvard Law graduate which uses Socratic Method?)
   
   A written example about common name is a duo of letters published in The Condor one by Bourne and Harris and one by Eisenmann:
   
   Name and Breeding-Place of Hornby's (Or the "Ringed") Storm-Petrel, Oceanodroma hornbyi .
   
   Here is The Species of Middle American Birds.
   
   v.7 (1955) - Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York. - Biodiversity Heritage Library .
   
   Where he attempted to create a list “by which each species could be designated throughout its range, without regard to locality or the subspecies involved” (p. 1). He wanted to “lay a foundation, before it is too late, for some measure of uniformity” (p. 2). He also recognized that “not all our selections will please everyone. In fact they do not please all our little committee” (p. 3)
   
   Notice that he gave credit to Emmet Reid Blake (Field Museum) and Edward L. Chalif (ornithologist and dance instructor) stating “ “With the collaboration in the selection of English names” of them.
   
   v.7 (1955) - Transactions of the Linnaean Society of New York. - Biodiversity Heritage Library .
   
   
   

 

[paranoid numanoid]

Intermittently I am working on a 'Dictionary of English Bird Names'. Eugene Eisenmann in his 'The Species of Middle American Birds' (1955) laid the foundations for the English names of Neotropical birds. His anathema towards eponyms was legendary, and I am trying to recall a doggerel rhyme related to me years ago which went something like,

"There was a young birder named Gene
Who on eponyms vented his spleen.
Temminck and Kittlitz
Were both on his hitlitz,
And Pallas should never be seen." ANON.

Do any old birders remember the exact words of this clerihew?

Is your embryonic dictionary also digging into the meanings or derivations of the names, James?
Are you including older and obsolete names?
I acquired Macleod's "Key to the Names of BB" which you referenced in your dictionary, but was much more impressed by Charles Swainson's "Provincial Names and Folklore of BB" (1885) and Harry Kirke Swann's "Dictionary..." (1913), based on Swainson's work.
It's a fascinating topic.

 

[paranoid numanoid]

Is your embryonic dictionary also digging into the meanings or derivations of the names, James?
Are you including older and obsolete names?
I acquired Macleod's "Key to the Names of BB" which you referenced in your dictionary, but was much more impressed by Charles Swainson's "Provincial Names and Folklore of BB" (1885) and Harry Kirke Swann's "Dictionary..." (1913), based on Swainson's work.
It's a fascinating topic.

Of course I mean insofar as it refers to "English" or "British" names of birds. The Latin/Greek section in Macleod is very useful indeed.

 

[James Jobling]

Although currently simply an alphabetical listing (from Abern to Zosterornis), my proposed "Dictionary of English Bird Names" plans to concentrate on the meanings and derivations of the vernacular English names of the birds of the world given in world-treatments, regional field-guides, check-lists, hand-books and the general literature since about 1750 (purely an arbitrary date). I do not intend to include obsolete, local or dialectical names (e.g. Peewit and Oxeye are not on my list), since they are adequately covered by the various volumes you refer to.

However, although I have written a draft Introduction and the list referred to above, this will be a project for the future, since I am still busy reconciling the scientific nomenclature and taxonomy of Lynx Edicions Illustrated Checklist (the base-line of my original MS) with that of Cornell/Clements The Key.

 

[paranoid numanoid]

Sounds like another immense but absorbing project, James, very best of luck with it.
Yes I started some time ago with a list "from Aberdevine to Wariangle" so I suppose that in itself shows the difference in the scope of our respective interests. I'm fascinated principally by the provincial and accepted British names of British birds and their derivations from Greek, Latin, the Germanic, Romance and Celtic languages, and how they have evolved over the centuries. I do think there are many gaps in our knowledge about these names as Swainson, Swann, Lockwood et al admit. We don't know really know how the puit or arling got their names but we can trace their development and outline the ideas that form the names. I'm finding I'm having to branch out into other languages (today Swedish!) just to get a handle on the possible background to little mysteries that remain unsolved.
Michael

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

James and Michael, for what it's worth, I think quite a few of those names (read: many, or even most in James' List, less so in Michael's ditto) and their origin, are shared with the Swedish language/list, and if so they are (or will be) incl. in my Swedish MS "Fåglarnas svenska namn" [Swedish Bird names], sub-titled; from abacorall to östersjötrut.

This far my MS is covering all the Birds/names from abacorall [for the sub-fossil species Rallus cyanocavi: Abaco Island + rall (rail)]; to östersjötrut [for the (nominate) ssp. of the Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus fuscus; Östersjön (the Baltic Sea) + trut (Gull)], as well as all the other names (and/or their parts), either single ones as well as shared ones, of all the Birds in all the World (used in contemporary Swedish texts, though only since 1942, also incl. today obsolete names).

Just to give you an idea, today I have the following:

A (240 entries)
From abaco-, as in the abacorall (above), ... to azur-, as in (for example) azurmes, for the Azure Tit (Parus) Cyanistes cyanus.

B (309 entries)
From babax, as in the Swedish names of four different (Babax) Pterorhinus species ... to -|böj- (bent/curved) as in dvärgböjnäbb (for your Dwarf Longbill) Oedistoma iliolophus (as well as in other names/birds).

C (197 entries)
From caatinga- (the South American habitat), as in, for example; caatinganattskärra (for the Plain-tailed Nighthawk) Nyctiprogne vielliardi ... to cypern- (Cypern/Cyprus), as in cypernstenskvätta, Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca, etc., etc.

... and onwards, obviously also including the above-mentioned parts/names; mes (Tit), dvärg- (Dwarf), näbb (beak/bill), natt (Night), skärra (similar to creak|er, alt. buzz|er, or whirl|er), sten (stone/rock), and skvätta (close to; squirt/er, or beckon/er), and all the other Bird epithets/words (or parts of ditto/s).

As of right now I have about 480 names left to explain (or just to check and verify, alt. update, amend or even re-write) ... after that, I'm done.

If you ever get stuck on any such (multi-lingual/shared) name, or names, don't hesitate to ask, either here "in the open" or (if more secretive) in either Conversations or by e-mail. I might have the answer in my MS, or in its notes, who knows?

Stay safe!

Björn

PS. James, as you clearly aim to cover a far, far wider time frame; "... the vernacular English names of the birds of the world given in world-treatments, regional field-guides, check-lists, hand-books and the general literature since about 1750 (purely an arbitrary date)", may I suggest the (Linnaean) year 1758, as a (natural) starting point (I'm pretty sure such a choice would facilitate quite a few plausibly tricky Identity issues).

And if so, I assume you will have to incl. the Pewit Gull (clearly the name used by H. L. Meyer in the mid 1800's (recently dealt with here, alt., in the direct link/text/book itself, here).

/B

 

[paranoid numanoid]

James and Michael, for what it's worth, I think quite a few of those names (read: many, or even most in James' List, less so in Michael's ditto) and their origin, are shared with the Swedish language/list, and if so they are (or will be) incl. in my Swedish MS "Fåglarnas svenska namn" [Swedish Bird names], sub-titled; from abacorall to östersjötrut.

This far my MS is covering all the Birds/names from abacorall [for the sub-fossil species Rallus cyanocavi: Abaco Island + rall (rail)]; to östersjötrut [for the (nominate) ssp. of the Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus fuscus; Östersjön (the Baltic Sea) + trut (Gull)], as well as all the other names (and/or their parts), either single ones as well as shared ones, of all the Birds in all the World (used in contemporary Swedish texts, though only since 1942, also incl. today obsolete names).

Just to give you an idea, today I have the following:

A (240 entries)
From abaco-, as in the abacorall (above), ... to azur-, as in (for example) azurmes, for the Azure Tit (Parus) Cyanistes cyanus.

B (309 entries)
From babax, as in the Swedish names of four different (Babax) Pterorhinus species ... to -|böj- (bent/curved) as in dvärgböjnäbb (for your Dwarf Longbill) Oedistoma iliolophus (as well as in other names/birds).

C (197 entries)
From caatinga- (the South American habitat), as in, for example; caatinganattskärra (for the Plain-tailed Nighthawk) Nyctiprogne vielliardi ... to cypern- (Cypern/Cyprus), as in cypernstenskvätta, Cyprus Wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca, etc., etc.

... and onwards, obviously also including the above-mentioned parts/names; mes (Tit), dvärg- (Dwarf), näbb (beak/bill), natt (Night), skärra (similar to creak|er, alt. buzz|er, or whirl|er), sten (stone/rock), and skvätta (close to; squirt/er, or beckon/er), and all the other Bird epithets/words (or parts of ditto/s).

As of right now I have about 480 names left to explain (or just to check and verify, alt. update, amend or even re-write) ... after that, I'm done.

If you ever get stuck on any such (multi-lingual/shared) name, or names, don't hesitate to ask, either here "in the open" or (if more secretive) in either Conversations or by e-mail. I might have the answer in my MS, or in its notes, who knows?

Stay safe!

Björn

PS. James, as you clearly aim to cover a far, far wider time frame; "... the vernacular English names of the birds of the world given in world-treatments, regional field-guides, check-lists, hand-books and the general literature since about 1750 (purely an arbitrary date)", may I suggest the (Linnaean) year 1758, as a (natural) starting point (I'm pretty sure such a choice would facilitate quite a few plausibly tricky Identity issues).

And if so, I assume you will have to incl. the Pewit Gull (clearly the name used by H. L. Meyer in the mid 1800's (recently dealt with here, alt., in the direct link/text/book itself, here).

/B

Sounds like a treasure trove, Bjorn, you have obviously been busy!
What is also obvious is that we have a shared deep interest in the names of birds and in the way language has found ways of expressing ideas about the birds.
I would love to buy your book, you may have to release it in volumes, starting with A!!
My list, which has become a manuscript, is from Aberdevine to Wariangle, old English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish names for British birds (including their accepted names and name history).
I begin with the Greek name in Aristotle BC 350 (via Turner 1544), and in some cases will trace an Akkadian or Egyptian root or derivation if possible. So the ideas about the bird go back in time, into other cultures.
I trace Latin names from Pliny AD 70, and how they evolved with Willughby/Ray through into Linnaean names (nouns and epithets). I list some Scots, Irish, Welsh and provincial English names and what they mean, ie what ideas they encapsulate about the bird. I don't treat of eponyms, and it's not systematic or global. I've decided not to make it a dictionary, but it will of course have an index which will act as one in effect. (The indices will be language-specific, so the Anglo-Saxon names will be listed separately from the Irish names, for example).
I'm most interested in the mysteries and loose ends left over from Swainson, Kirke Swann and Lockwood, and in the errors and lacunae left by Desfayes and other writers.
I haven't included Swedish names as yet but have already found that there are mysteries which can be resolved by linking with Scandinavia and the Celtic languages (neb is Scots for a nose, nib is English for the sharp point of a pen!) , rather than always looking to Rome and Athens (or Lesvos!) for inspiration as more anglocentric writers (eg Newton) have always done.
Again, thank you for your inspiring posts!! I may have to retire soon in order to read all yur suggestions!!!
I would very much like to continue our dialogue and will help you in any ways I can, more detailed or technical conversations can be restricted perhaps to "Conversations".

 

[paranoid numanoid]

sqvatta: we have an English word "squat" which means "plump, having a low centre of gravity", and "to squat" meaning to "get down low" as in a body position, like the lower part of a wheatear or dipper's dip or curtsey. "A squatter" is a tenant, someone who "sits tight" (in someone else's property without paying!) ... I wonder any of these may be connected to the sense of stansqvatta name you mention... Also "chat" was a common name for the wheatear and the chats (onom.), after their chinking call, which sounds not unlike "sqvatt".

trut: a bigger gull. I wonder where that derives from, we have a fish-name "trout". I read recently Gk. "khelidon" was originally a sea-fish name, which we use as L."chelidon" for the bird swallow, so there is a precedent for that kind of confusion.
Trut may of course be onomatopoeic, although I have only heard "cob" quoted in the older literature as the call of the big gulls, as well as their vernacular name, and "keph" the call of the blackheaded gull, which is a bit of a stretch (from Gk "kepphos").
Trut also sounds like the older Germanic dryssce from which we derive thrush, connected as it may be to the Latin turdus from the rattling call of the [mistle] thrush.

I don't want to wander too far into folk etymology, although that is the way vernacular and provincial names evolved in the oral tradition, which of course predates the written word. And so it's a valid way, I think, of "unravelling" from the present back to the original ideas about the bird.

Interested to hear what others think.

 

[Björn Bergenholtz]

Sounds like a treasure trove, Bjorn, you have obviously been busy!
...

Michael, I sure could say the same about you!

...
I haven't included Swedish names as yet but have already found that there are mysteries which can be resolved by linking with Scandinavia and the Celtic languages (neb is Scots for a nose, nib is English for the sharp point of a pen!) ...

I take it for granted that you know about the Swedish word näbb (for bill/beak).

... more detailed or technical conversations can be restricted perhaps to "Conversations".

Agreed.

...
trut: a bigger gull. I wonder where that derives from, we have a fish-name "trout". I read recently Gk. "khelidon" was originally a sea-fish name, which we use as L."chelidon" for the bird swallow, so there is a precedent for that kind of confusion.
Trut may of course be onomatopoeic, ...
...

As far as I know it's not related neither to trout, nor to any other fish, not at all. It's not even onomatopoeic.

The Swedish Bird name trut is related to (alt. derived from) the same Swedish word, trut, for its (large) mouth (read; beak/bill), solely used for the larger Gulls (who all have strong, prominent bills). Compare with the Swedish expression/reprimand: "Håll truten!", which means "to hold one’s jaw", "belt up!" or simply "Shut (the f...) up!"

We also have the word/verb (phrase; att) truta, (to) pout [one’s lips (like for a kiss)].

Note that Linnaeus, in Methodus avium Sveticarium (1731) used the name Trutare, for the larger Gulls in Larus, versus the smaller Common/Mew Gull (Larus canus) which he called Fiskmas [sic, Fisk = Fish + mas/mås.].

As I see it, a trut is simply a 'pouter', a Bird/Gull with a conspicuous bill (alt. with a protrusive, jutting or jabbering 'mouth'), hard to ignore.

Well, now it's time for me to "Hålla truten".

And that I will do (at least for today).

🤭

/B

 

[paranoid numanoid]

Michael, I sure could say the same about you!


I take it for granted that you know about the Swedish word näbb (for bill/beak).


Agreed.


As far as I know it's not related neither to trout, nor to any other fish, not at all. It's not even onomatopoeic.

The Swedish Bird name trut is related to (alt. derived from) the same Swedish word, trut, for its (large) mouth (read; beak/bill), solely used for the larger Gulls (who all have strong, prominent bills). Compare with the Swedish expression/reprimand: "Håll truten!", which means "to hold one’s jaw", "belt up!" or simply "Shut (the f...) up!"

We also have the word/verb (phrase; att) truta, (to) pout [one’s lips (like for a kiss)].

Note that Linnaeus, in Methodus avium Sveticarium (1731) used the name Trutare, for the larger Gulls in Larus, versus the smaller Common/Mew Gull (Larus canus) which he called Fiskmas [sic, Fisk = Fish + mas/mås.].

As I see it, a trut is simply a 'pouter', a Bird/Gull with a conspicuous bill (alt. with a protrusive, jutting or jabbering 'mouth'), hard to ignore.

Well, now it's time for me to "Hålla truten".

And that I will do (at least for today).

🤭

/Bri

Interesting (as always)....
nabb: yes I saw that in your list.
trut: the fish name "trout" derives from Old English truhta, from Late Latin tructa, from Greek troktes (a gnawer, a marine fish, something which gnaws) - so again linked to eating and feeding (at sea). From Cassell's Dictionary of Word Histories, London, 1999. So your surmise is correct, there's just a little bit of back-fill for you...
A very full mouth is a pout "like a trout" and someone like that may be said to have "kipper lips" although both are quite rude schoolboy slang!
gull: With us, "gull" is more linked to the throat, a crammer, a swallower, a gullet.
Halla truten: The very rude "ta geule!" in French is short for "ferme ta geule!" which means "shut your snout!" (an animal's nose and mouth).
Yes I must halla truten now and get out in the winter sun. Might visit Irvine beach and see if there are any gannets, turnstones, oystercatchers or even lapwings around!

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

The very rude "ta geule!" in French is short for "ferme ta geule!" !

gueule* 😉

 

[paranoid numanoid]

gueule* 😉

Merci monsieur! Excusez-moi!
You might know Jim; in connection with old provincial ox-eye names for birds like great tit, treecreeper and dunlin or ringed plover, how did the bullfinch get its French name bouvreuil? (if I've spelled that aright). Would it be a corruption or evolution perhaps of bouv (r) oeuil, roughly connected with ox-eye in some way?

 

[Jim LeNomenclatoriste]

Merci monsieur! Excusez-moi!
You might know Jim; in connection with old provincial ox-eye names for birds like great tit, treecreeper and dunlin or ringed plover, how did the bullfinch get its French name bouvreuil? (if I've spelled that aright). Would it be a corruption or evolution perhaps of bouv (r) oeuil, roughly connected with ox-eye in some way?

According to Wiktionnaire : Derived from « bouvier » with the suffix -euil : "because this bird willingly follows the plowman who drives the plow in the fields" or, with the same suffixes, directly derived from « boeuf » (ox) "because it is stocky like an ox[1 ]”; in support of this hypothesis, the fact that its synonym is dialectally bouvart (« bouvillon » / "steer").

 

[paranoid numanoid]

According to Wiktionnaire : Derived from « bouvier » with the suffix -euil : "because this bird willingly follows the plowman who drives the plow in the fields" or, with the same suffixes, directly derived from « boeuf » (ox) "because it is stocky like an ox[1 ]”; in support of this hypothesis, the fact that its synonym is dialectally bouvart (« bouvillon » / "steer").

Thank you Jim!
The second and related third derivations are the slightly more likely ones, for me: "stocky" like an ox or bull would tie in with Desfayes and others, ("steer" being also "cattle"), the bird appearing "beefy" and "bullish".

 

[James Jobling]

Bouvreuil / Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula

Cabard & Chauvet, 2003, p. 368, confirms the bull motif; "Bouvreuil date de 1743. En 1721, on trouve bouvreur, contraction probable de bouvereuil dérivé de bœuf et d'un suffixe euil; sans doute par métaphore plaisante, en raison de la silhouette trapue de l'oiseau et de son bec gros et court (cf. l'anglais Bullfinch ou pinson-taureau)."

 

[paranoid numanoid]

Bouvreuil / Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula

Cabard & Chauvet, 2003, p. 368, confirms the bull motif; "Bouvreuil date de 1743. En 1721, on trouve bouvreur, contraction probable de bouvereuil dérivé de bœuf et d'un suffixe euil; sans doute par métaphore plaisante, en raison de la silhouette trapue de l'oiseau et de son bec gros et court (cf. l'anglais Bullfinch ou pinson-taureau)."

Many thanks James.
Donc le boeuf est bon, mais pas l'oeuil, tant pis!
I still have a hunch there may be a route that leads back to blood-finch for this one, from the German.
It's incredible how infinite is the "variety on a theme" of some provincial names, evolving exponentially on miniscule changes of accent or emphasis to becoming gradually different words. I became aware of it reading Rolland's Faune Populaire de la France (1879) upon which Charles Swainson modelled his Provincial Names and Folklore of British Birds in 1885. More recently (following a hint in Lockwood's Oxford Dictionary of Bird Names) I searched for and acquired John Braidwood's inital list of Ulster Scots vernacular names - there were 37 varieties of Yella Yite/Yorlin for the yellowhammer.
Interesting how we came to have the h in hammer and the p in ptarmigan! Even accepted names evolved, sometimes in the spoken culture and sometimes in the written.

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

I am not sure if this can be included in this topic, but here it goes: I would like to know if vernacular English names (and more specifically the names of species native to the UK) have changed a lot throughout the 20th century and if there were any conflicts concerning what would be the "best" bird names.

This question is not related to the ongoing debate concerning eponymous bird names, which is already being discussed in other topics. I am trying to figure out if there were any kind of similar conflicts in the past.

The reason for my interest is related to the situation in Portugal, where a conflict about what is the best bird list started in the mid 1990's and has not come to an end so far.

 

[James Jobling]

The English names of British birds have generally remained unchanged since the early 1900s. “A List of British Birds (2nd ed.)”, 1915, BOU, set a standard which was followed in the UK, although it tended towards parochialism (e.g. Micropus[Apus] apus Swift, Falco tinnunculus Kestrel, Falco subbuteo Hobby, Oenanthe oenanthe Wheatear). Its names were followed, amongst others, by "The Status of Birds in Britain and Ireland", 1971, BOU. “Suggested changes to the English names of some Western Palearctic birds”, 1988, Ibis, 130 Supplement/British Birds 81, properly sought to level the playing field by introducing modifiers, but by attempting to bring us kicking and screaming into the 20th century, it opened the usual can of worms trying to inflict change on our beloved English names. I supported modifiers such as Common Swift, Common Kestrel, Northern Hobby and Northern Wheatear, but waxed incandescent over Hedge Accentor and Bearded Parrotbill (although Bearded Reedling provokes even more anathema!) I still have a copy of my letter to the BOU, and Gwen Bonham’s courteous reply!

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

Thanks James for the detailed reply. Here in Portugal the situation is far more chaotic.