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"Erasing history" in the WP (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Xenospiza
- Start date
Jacana
Will Jones
Some more:
Liechtenstein's Sandgrouse - Marbled Sandgrouse
Pallas's Reed Bunting - Frosted Reed Bunting
Radde's Warbler - Sallow Warbler (from the Swedish)
Bolle's Pigeon - Myrtle Pigeon
Blyth's Reed Warbler - Carr Reed Warbler (also from the Swedish)
Upcher's Warbler - Tamarisk Warbler
Blyth's Pipit - Mongolian Pipit
Liechtenstein's Sandgrouse - Marbled Sandgrouse
Pallas's Reed Bunting - Frosted Reed Bunting
Radde's Warbler - Sallow Warbler (from the Swedish)
Bolle's Pigeon - Myrtle Pigeon
Blyth's Reed Warbler - Carr Reed Warbler (also from the Swedish)
Upcher's Warbler - Tamarisk Warbler
Blyth's Pipit - Mongolian Pipit
temmie
Well-known member
I really like all of these new names that are more representing those species' ID characteristics / behaviour or center of range.
I find most birdnames commemorating people nonsensical and abstract. For me, they do not provide any info nor excitement and are actually distracting as they don't give any clue about a certain species' ID / Range,...
To make things worse, some of those scientists / explorers have more than one bird named after them and in some cases, most of those species are very hard to see as those explorers went waaaaay to deep into terra incognita (e.g. Snethlage, Forbes, Przewalski, Whitehead)!
I find most birdnames commemorating people nonsensical and abstract. For me, they do not provide any info nor excitement and are actually distracting as they don't give any clue about a certain species' ID / Range,...
To make things worse, some of those scientists / explorers have more than one bird named after them and in some cases, most of those species are very hard to see as those explorers went waaaaay to deep into terra incognita (e.g. Snethlage, Forbes, Przewalski, Whitehead)!
Prestdj
its good to be back
does it matter? only a small amount of people know about the origins of bird names,its hard enough getting used the new taxomy let alone new names pallas's warbler will always be pallas's warbler just like zitting cistacola will always be fan tailed warbler............you can change history but not erase it
Xenospiza
Distracted
I cannot use "Fan-tailed Warbler" as there is a (really nice) bird in Central America with the same name.
Zitting Cisticola is a bit grandiose, but better than yet another warbler ("Zitting Identification Challenge" would better reflect what happens when you go to Africa).
jurek
Well-known member
Zitting Cisticola is hilarious, because zit in English has only one meaning: a skin disease, a blister, a pustule. So the Zitting Cisticola either has blisters on face, or is a bird which can give you blisters, something like a stinging nettle. Hopefully not just from watching it.
Fortunately I think all (native speaker) birders fully understand the meaning of zitting in this regard
dantheman
Bah humbug
Hmmm ... it didn't come up on a quick google search for me ...
I wonder if the word zit (the sound) and zitting are new words based on 'Zitting Cisticola' lol.
There are any number of onomatopoeic words that you could make up or are really uncommon - plip, crip, smat, yop etc ...
EDIT: It's on wikipedia (maybe a birder wrote it based on their small warbler knowledge ;-) ), but not eg Collins -
I wonder if the word zit (the sound) and zitting are new words based on 'Zitting Cisticola' lol.
There are any number of onomatopoeic words that you could make up or are really uncommon - plip, crip, smat, yop etc ...
EDIT: It's on wikipedia (maybe a birder wrote it based on their small warbler knowledge ;-) ), but not eg Collins -
lockbreeze926
Well-known member
Cisticolas must be among the least clearly-named birds of them all, though. Highly-subjective attempts at assigning a dubious adjective to a voice are no help.
Was that a chirp, or a tinkle?
A croak, or a rattle?
A zit, or a...er, sing?
A whoop or a holler?
Obviously, people learn to associate a particular song with the relevant species, but not because of the names.
Might as well just give them patronyms - how's that for an idea?
Was that a chirp, or a tinkle?
A croak, or a rattle?
A zit, or a...er, sing?
A whoop or a holler?
Obviously, people learn to associate a particular song with the relevant species, but not because of the names.
Might as well just give them patronyms - how's that for an idea?
Farnboro John
Well-known member
lockbreeze926
Well-known member
Ned "Dickie" Hemric | College Hoopedia
collegehoopedia.com
Farnboro John
Well-known member
Ménétries
Ménétries's Warbler
Xenospiza
Distracted
Funnily, this commonly used spelling is apparently wrong. It should be Ménétriés: Myrmotherula menetriesii (d'Orbigny, 1837)
It was a Frenchman living in Russia, which complicates matters further.
pbjosh
missing the neotropics
I disagree. They are going to be a pain in the backside to name no matter what. The names are not perfect but they do help me with my limited expertise of African birds… and even if it’s not perfect, Wing-snapping or Croaking or Zitting or Croaking tells me more than a bunch of eponyms or a bunch of body part descriptors would in this group.
Welsh Peregrine
Well-known member
But I still can’t tell the difference between Croaking and Croaking……
Xenospiza
Distracted
Rock-loving always good for a smile!
Welsh Peregrine
Well-known member
Guess you just have to Roll with it!
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